Now that there are a lot more e-commerce businesses, there is a lot more competition for each product. Most new businesses are looking for the popular product and trying to create one similar to it. In addition, they may want to design a product similar to a popular brand as an easy way for the product gain popularity off the backs of those designs that are already popular. Thus, it will be important to have an understanding of general design patent business considerations.
SUMMARY
- Protect your designs from other competitors.
- Do not let others ride off the back of your creative product designs.
- Be unique.
- See INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY for general information.
COSTS OF A DESIGN PATENT
Design patents are relatively cheap. You can hire an attorney to apply a design patent for $700-$1,200 USD. Compared to utility patents, this is a relatively cheap way to protect and deter competition.
Just like any investment, you should weigh whether the costs of applying a design patent is worth the protection you gain from it. Compared to a utility patent, the cost is typically worth the protection since you are able to enforce your right against people who try to ride off the back of your design. One big downside is that design patent may be relatively vague and hard to enforce on products that do not have a design that similar to yours.
DESIGN PATENTS AND MANUFACTURES
The design patent business considerations for obtain a utility patent is the same for design patents. On top of the bars from applying for a design patent based on patent laws, there is some factors like the manufactures.
Before you decide to go to a manufacture, you should decide whether you should get a design patent first. If you are buying a product on the manufactures shelf, this may not apply as the manufactures may have already applied for the design patent. If you are planning to design your own product, that is the ornamental design of a product, you should think about applying for one before you talk to a manufacture.
Some manufactures will include in their supplier contracts that they will have the rights to apply for the patents of anything they determine may be patentable. They may also decide to apply for a patent on their own, which will take more work to fix. One way to avoid this issue, especially, if you have a unique design is to apply for a design patent first.
DESIGN PATENTS AND E-COMMERCE
As stated above, you may not have as much rights as utility patents, however, now that e-commerce businesses are starting to saturate the market, design patents have more value than before. Many businesses are looking for the best product to sell. They look online to see what others are selling and ask a manufacture to sell them a product that is relatively similar to yours.
Previously, design patents have been known for being a waste of money or not really used often. This may be because in the past, the market for creating any products was not very saturated and there was not so many people selling the same item. Now that everyone is creating an e-commerce business, it is easy to just take someones idea and ask a manufacturer to make it, which is what have made design patents very valuable for your company. The value comes from making sure other new e-commerce businesses are not trying to make quick bucks off of your creatives designs. See HOW TO USE YOUR PATENTS