The U.S. Patent Office has issued over 10 million patents ! As of September 15^th, 2020, I became the owner of the patent number 10,773148. Many of us have great ideas, yet most of us will never act on them. According to American motivational speaker Les Brown, one of his many famous quotes is,

“The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry out their dream.”

When it comes to living the life of your dreams, it’s imperative that you take decisive action! You don’t want to get to the end of your life to have regrets about risks you didn’t take or ideas you didn’t pursue.

 

Here are  4  tips on how to receive a patent for your ideas:

1. Read “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel Pink.

Reading this book is what gave me the inspiration that allowed me to receive a patent for my invention. Essentially, the book describes that right-brainers are going to rule the world due to their creativity. Basically, your Mom and Dad are wrong wanting you to become an attorney, or an accountant. The reason being that those sort of jobs are being outsourced to different countries because they are extremely process oriented. This book allowed me to start identifying problems in order to create a solution.

2. Start Identifying Problems with Common Items.

Think “Selfie Stick” one of the simplest inventions I’ve seen recently. Yet, I wasn’t the one who came up with this idea. Am I upset? No, because I don’t take enough selfies to identify that my arms weren’t long enough in order to create the perfect angle for a badass social media picture.

This is how a majority of inventions get created, you need to think as simple as humanly possible., The next time you get mad that something doesn’t work correctly, start by asking yourself, “How can I improve this product?” Once you start looking for solutions to problems, you may find yourself creating a brand new creation!

 

3. Complete a Patent Search.

Once you come up with the greatest invention since sliced bread! You’re going to need to complete a patent search to ensure that your idea hasn’t already been done. This is something you can do on your own, but I decided to hire an attorney to do a search for me. Now, this did cost me around $500, but spending $500 is a lot less costly then applying for a patent on your own, just to find out that your idea was already taken.

4. Submit for a Patent.

You’ve come up with your idea, you’ve completed your patent search, and now you have the green light to go for the patent! Now, this is something you can do 100% by yourself, but I’d highly recommend that you hire a patent attorney. It will cost you anywhere from $2500 to $5000, but more times than not your first submission will be rejected by the USPTO.

After you’re rejected, you will need to respond to the USPTO to state your case why your invention is patentable. However, this is where most do it yourselfers will find themselves having to hire an attorney on the backend in order to make their dream come to fruition.

This will result in having to spend the same amount of money, but you will end up wasting countless hours on a task a patent attorney could’ve taken off your hands.

Now, start looking for problems, find solutions, and come up with the next SELFIE STICK!

Happy Slacking,

Josh, AKA “CHACHI”