How to Patent an Idea

Patenting is one of the areas clients ask about earliest and understand least. The questions that matter are not really about forms and fees. They are about whether your idea qualifies, whether it is developed enough to protect, and whether a patent is the right instrument at all. This guide sets out how the process works from a product development perspective.

When to start thinking about it

After concept development. That is the point at which a client should begin thinking seriously about patents and start speaking to attorneys about a potential filing.

Thinking about it and filing are two different things, and the gap between them matters. Concept development is where the idea takes a defined shape. Before that there is usually not enough substance to protect, and after it there is a clear enough picture to have a useful conversation with an attorney.

What can be patented, and what cannot

If it is a unique design, non-repeatable, bringing genuine innovation to the market, changing how something works, or creating something that has never been done before, that is worthy of a patent.

If you have an upgraded design competing against products already on the market, that is not a patent. That is a registered design.

The distinction is between doing something for the first time and doing something better than it has been done before. Both are legitimate. They simply call for different protection.

What the process looks like

Once concepts have been executed and the preferred direction is chosen, and the deliverables have been received, we encourage clients to speak with attorneys.

These are usually short conversations, often around thirty minutes, where you share the idea under NDA. The attorney tells you what can be patented, what should instead be registered, and how to protect the idea properly. They lead the way from that point.

The output of that conversation is generally shared back with us. In some cases clients want D2M in the room as well, to make sure the idea is articulated properly to the attorney. From there the draft application begins, running alongside the Design for Prototype stage. Once the product is finalised the application is filed, and protection is put in place.

What an attorney needs from the design side

An attorney needs the same thing a design agency needs: a full understanding of the idea. Who is it going to be used by, where is it going to be used, and what is the product overall.

Beyond that they need detailed drawings, which we call IP drawings. These allow the attorney to number the components, describe them in the draft, and describe the functions of the product accurately within the application.

Detailed IP drawings are one of the key requirements of a strong application. It is worth being clear that these are a distinct deliverable. An IP drawing is not the same thing as a manufacturing specification drawing, and the two serve entirely different purposes.

The biggest mistake

Filing too early. It is the single most common and most costly error in this area.

What happens when you file too early

Filing too early can undermine the whole project.

If the application is filed before the product is properly defined, and before the design features are resolved, some of the features added later will fall outside the filing. They will not be included in the patent, which weakens your protection.

The more common outcome is that the design changes dramatically after filing. The patent then has to be reapplied for, at considerably more cost, and the original application does not help protect the new design because the product is now made in a very different way. It becomes wasted money and wasted resource.

Patent attorneys are not liable for that waste. They are following your instructions and your descriptions, and they will always act in a time-sensitive way to make sure you are protected as their client. The judgement about whether the design is ready sits with you and your design team.

There is a further risk. Because the early application publishes your idea, that publication can become prior art against your own later filing.

How long it takes

If you are in a rush, an application can be filed in about two weeks.

More typically the process runs from two to five weeks from the first attorney conversation through to a filed application, depending on the complexity of the product and how quickly the drawings and descriptions can be produced.

Protection between filing and grant

Filing gives you twelve months of protection at that stage. At the end of those twelve months you need to decide where you want to pursue protection, which is the point at which the international question has to be answered.

If you cannot afford to defend it

This is a difficult situation. If you are moving into a product that requires significant IP protection and you do not have the resources, which in practice usually means you do not have the funding to finance the development project at all, you are exposing yourself.

In general it does not arise, because a project that cannot fund its own development rarely reaches the point of filing. Where it does happen it is a poor position to be in, because a right you cannot enforce offers limited practical protection.

If your idea already exists in a patent search

There are two routes.

The first is to work around the existing patents. Reverse engineer the problem, understand precisely what the existing patents claim, and build toward something those claims do not cover. That can produce a patentable position of your own.

The second is to change direction. Rework the product and approach the problem from a different perspective, rather than trying to squeeze into the narrow space left by what already exists.

Should most people patent at all?

If you are changing the way something is used or fabricated, or doing something for the first time, then yes. A patent is viable and worth having, and you can proceed with one.

If you are improving an existing product, it is not a good idea. A design registration is the better route.

Equally, if you are not enhancing anything and simply have your own design that you are putting on the market, it does not need a patent. A design registration is enough.

The test is straightforward. If you are doing something for the first time, and changing the mechanics of how something should work, you are likely eligible for a patent and it is worth having one. If you are not, there is a cheaper and more appropriate instrument available.

What it costs

The basic preparation and filing fees with the UK IPO are around £320, but the real cost lies in drafting. Having a patent attorney draft the application typically costs between £2,500 and £6,500. A PCT application for international protection costs around £5,000, and prosecuting the patent into individual countries can run into tens of thousands. These figures are taken from the live article and must be confirmed against current rates before publication.

Enforcing a patent without going to court

Enforcement does not always mean litigation. Retailers often avoid the reputational risk of stocking infringing products and will delist them when presented with evidence. A standard cease and desist letter works in roughly half of cases. And the phrase "patent pending" on product packaging or listings acts as a deterrent that costs nothing and has been shown to reduce copying significantly.

Selling or licensing a patent

Patenting is not only about defence. A granted patent can be licensed to other companies for royalties, sold outright, or assigned. For many inventors, licensing is the most practical route to generating income from the patent without bearing the cost and risk of manufacturing and marketing the product themselves.

Related guides: UK Patent Cost Guide · Why Patent Is Important for Business · Navigating the Patent Process · 97% of Patents Never Make Money

‍