Do I need a patent even though I can prove I was the first to invent?

• The Patent Office assumes that the first person to file an application was the first to invent. However, ultimately the first to “invent” an item has the senior rights, unless they have abandoned, suppressed, or concealed their invention.
• Invention is broken down into 3 steps.
  • Conception
  • Reduction to practice
  • Filing of a patent application (constructive reduction to practice).
• Generally, conception is the moment when the inventor formulates the complete means for solving a problem. It involves not only the perception of producing a certain result, it also involves the perception of the means by which the result can be produced.
• Generally, reduction to practice is the moment when the invention is proven to work. Reduction to practice sometimes involves the physical construction of the invention and testing the physical device to determine whether it will perform as contemplated. Reduction to practice can also be met without building a test model or prototype–if the invention can be described in the patent so that one skilled in the art to which it relates can construct the invention from the written description, then the invention is considered reduced to practice by the written description.
• However, for an individual inventor, the use of proof-of-prior-conception to “trump” the patent rights of another person who filed an earlier patent is very rare. Using proof-of-conception to obtain a patent when another has filed before you is more practical in a large corporate setting in which many ideas are conceived and recorded and where another corporation may have a team working on the same idea. In that case, proof-of-conception could prove which firm thought of the idea first, and the firms would have the resources to litigate over a major idea, such as the invention of the laser, the spreadsheet, etc.
• If the three events, CONCEPTION, REDUCTION TO PRACTICE, and FILING OF THE APPLICATION are not connected by due diligence, then proof of the date of conception is worthless. In general, proof of the date of conception for individual inventors is worthless. The only way to ensure protection of an invention is by filing a patent application and obtaining an issued patent.

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