FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need a patent search? For every idea that you have you need to find out whether it is new, or whether if you were to proceed you risk treading on another’s toes, and infringing any rights they may have in place. And if it is new, and therefore patentable, you need to know how best to protect the idea from being easily copied by your competitors. A patent search is a great way to filter out your ideas, to ensure that you concentrate your best efforts on those ideas with mileage. Click here to read more about our patent searching services.
Why are The Patent Factory’s searching services so much more reasonable than other patent searching services? We realise that the patent process can be an expensive one, so we strive to keep our early-stage searching services as low as possible. We don’t want you sitting on lots of ideas, unsure which ones to take further, when this part of the jigsaw need not cost the earth. We want to help you to develop and protect the best ones. So our Snapshot search service and our PatentPlus service are handled purely online, to enable us to keep costs to a minimum.
What makes you different to the other patent searching services? Your idea is solely handled by a Patent Attorney. We don’t employ search monkeys or office staff. From the moment you send us your idea, one of our UK and European Patent Attorneys will ensure that you are provided with all of the advice and support that you need. This makes the process personal, professional and efficient.
How is my idea kept confidential? The only people who will see your idea are fully-qualified Patent Attorneys, who are bound by the Code of Conduct of their Institute to keep all dealings confidential. If however, for your own peace of mind, you would prefer to have a confidentiality agreement in place prior to telling us about your idea, please send us an email with your full name and postal address. Click here for details about how to contact us.
What types of ideas have you helped so far? We’ve helped people with ideas in so many different market sectors. These include medical products and devices, packaging concepts, toys and games, renewable energy generators and consumer goods. It’s always great when we are sent a new idea that makes you have one of those “why didn’t I think of that?” moments. We’ve helped a team of innovators through our Snapshot service to pick out the winning ideas. We’ve helped a University with our PatentPlus service to evaluate their student inventions.
How can I send you an idea? We accept ideas in all different formats, and we encourage you to come to us with those very early-stage ideas. The sort that only really exist as a scribble in a sketchbook. We just need to understand what problem your idea solves, and how it achieves this – ideally accompanied with a sketch. We will of course come back to you if we need further information. To send us an idea, please either email it to stuff@patentfactory.co.uk or send it by post to our Richmond address.
What if I have lots of ideas – can I send them all in? Absolutely! We have designed our services to suit the everyday entrepreneur, bubbling over with lots of new ideas. Our Snapshot search service can be just the ticket to help to filter ideas generated during a brainstorming session.
Snapshot Search Service
Why did you introduce this Snapshot service? To do just that – put you in the picture. You’ve lots of ideas, and you don’t know where to concentrate your efforts. You know that you need a patent search and the opinion of a Patent Attorney, but to run a search for all of your ideas you realise will incur considerable investment. Our Snapshot service is priced to allow you to have a professional patent search conducted for all of your ideas to be sure that you aren’t missing a trick, and to highlight the ideas that are worth pursuing further.
How do I send you my idea? You can send us your idea by email to stuff@patentfactory.co.uk or through the post to our Richmond offices.
How do I pay for this service? Our Snapshot service is paid for upfront through Paypal – the safest, easiest way to pay online through their secure server. You do not need to have a Paypal account to be able to use this service. If you follow the instructions, you can just insert your card details through their trusted online payment gateway.
How long does it take? We aim to have our report delivered to your email inbox within 5 working days.
Who does the searching? Your idea is searched and appraised by one of our Patent Attorneys. As soon as you have submitted your idea to us, one of our Attorneys will contact you to let you know that they have received your idea, and to allow them to ask you any further questions.
I’ve had a Snapshot search done – what happens next? The Snapshot report will include suggestions for how best to proceed with your idea, in light of the prior art found during the search process. We would always advise that you take a close look at the patents found in the search, to be sure that you agree with our findings.