What if I know my idea isn’t patentable? I don’t need to be concerned about patents and I can make and sell all I want, right?

• Wrong. In the first place, it is probably a mistake to assume your invention is not patentable without at least conducting a patent novelty search.
• Just because the basic product has been on the market for years does not necessarily mean that you can’t get a patent on your version of the product. “Improvement” patents are issued all the time.
• More importantly, just because a device is not on the market does not necessarily mean that it hasn’t already been patented. Oftentimes, a previous inventor will have made poor business decisions or have other circumstances which result in an unsuccessful market penetration. The only way to determine if an invention has been patented before is to do a patent search.
• You are risking a great deal by not checking to see if anyone else has a patent on an item or process. You may be infringing on someone else’s patent without knowing it. Getting into and out of an infringement lawsuit is very expensive.

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