Patent Myth: Mailing An Idea To Myself Establishes Patent Protection

I mailed my invention idea to myself to establish I was the first inventor. Am I safe?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. The US is a first to file country meaning that the first person to file for protection has the right to receive a patent to invent regardless of who actually first invented. Therefore, it is in your best interest to file as soon as possible to avoid someone else beating you to the patent office. The above said, only the true inventor can file for protection. In other words, if someone sees your invention and files before you, their application would be invalidated for fraud on the USPTO as they were not the true inventor. A problem could arise, however, where they modify or improve your invention and then file – effectively locking you into a very limited version of your invention, thus there are advantages to those who file while their invention is still secret.

In a perfect world, all inventors would file before doing anything that might jeopardize their US and foreign rights by always filing before their invention is made public. But life isn’t perfect and there are many times where the invention is made public to test sales and/or there is no need for foreign protection. In such an instance, being public can be considered good because it does prevent others from filing on the same invention and can give the inventor, if they have the means to make and sell the product in a relatively short time frame, more reason to file because of market success. That being said, it is always best to file as soon as possible and remember that if you are public for more than 12 months you cannot file.