"Is a patent application the best way to achieve my goal?"

In order to find out whether a patent application is the best way to achieve your goal, you must first establish what you want to do with your invention. There are multiple options.

I want to use the invention myself

If your primary goal is to use the invention yourself and you are not interested in stopping third parties from using it, then there is no real need to file a patent application. In consultation with you, one of our advisors can conduct the Freedom to Operate investigation to determine whether you can use your invention without infringing third parties’ patents. This investigation must be conducted on a regular basis in order to identify the relevance of recently published patent applications. In this situation, we recommend publishing your invention as a defensive measure to create prior art and keep others from applying for a patent.

I want to protect an invention from imitation or I want to sell an invention

If you are planning on achieving at least one of the above goals, then Mling a patent application is probably one of your best options. And don’t forget that your invention can be given additional protection by applying for a trademark, design or other IP rights. NLO’s advisors will help you determine the most escient protection strategy. If the patent attorney decides that your invention is not susciently developed to qualify for a patent, we advise you to keep your invention secret for the time being.

If you want to know more about what the Dutch government says on patents, read the website of The Netherlands Enterprise Agency here.

Make sure to also read our other articles in our rubric #YouAskWeAnswer on what a patent looks like, whether your invention is patentable and what benefits a patent will bring you.