Having a patent is an important part of keeping your processes and products safe from reproduction. It helps to create a base that lets you maintain strict ownership of what you make and how you make it. When discussing with Asif Ali Gohar how important patents have been to his business and his own use of patents in multiple countries to protect both his product and his process, he has some suggestions on how to maintain them.
Why do you think it is important to have a patent?
It is important to have a patent in order to protect your work. If you do not than other people can copy what you have made and sell it along with yours. Having a patent on your product protects your rights to your own process and the products that you have made, which lets you get the most from your efforts before someone else copies them.
Patents on your process can protect the time and money saving things that you have invented, which provide an advantage to you over the competition. This can keep your costs lower and when you offer a lower price then the competition you will have increased sales. You can also offer a product that they cannot, which is a great advantage in any business.
Do you hold a patent in each country or is it one for all of them?
You need to file a patent in each country that you want protection in. They are enforced by that country, and they do not cross borders. I hold a patent for both my process and my material in each of the countries that I operate and am expanding to hold patents in countries in which I want to sell my product as well. This will help me to protect my rights in each place that I am selling and will allow me to build my business stronger before the patents expire and others are able to use the technology.
What do you put a patent on?
You should put a patent on any new invention. This includes the new devices that you use to make the products, and any machines that you have created for the job. It is important that any changes that you make to current machinery is also patented in order to fully protect your process and to protect the items that you are making.
You should also put a patent on the end product that you have created. It can be copied by others, and they may offer a different quality to yours, or make yours look bad if theirs is lower quality and people assume that it all is. You have worked hard to make these things and need to protect them.
Processes themselves should also be protected so they can not be copied. Your process that you developed is necessary for your business and gives you a distinct advantage over competitors.
Do you need a patent lawyer to get one?
You do not need a lawyer to get a patent if you are able to fill out the paperwork yourself. If you are uncertain than it is worth paying a patent lawyer to ensure it is done correctly and that everything is protected.