I think I have a novel idea

[SoftwareBod]

Hi

I think I have a novel idea - its a mix of things really - a software patent at heart, I guess the proof is in the examining. I am now wondering what the best course of action is. I.e. should I:

1. Write up the idea in "patent" speak such that I can then hire a US examiner.
2. Get a rough draft together and let a PA decide the best course of action.
3. Will a PA help me refine things easily.
4. I'm UK based but want a US patent first and then european, ideally, if I have a defendable idea.

IS there any guide out there to building a software patent. is it me or am I finding it hard to easily find prior art. This is a private project so private money and I'd like to try to keep the budget in check.

Thanks in advance.

[JimIvey]

1. Write up the idea in "patent" speak such that I can then hire a US examiner.

Do you mean a patent practitioner (attorney/agent)?  You don't hire an examiner here; they work for the government.

Second, there is no "patent speak".  We use English (American English).  Just be extremely literal.  Many people will try to misinterpret what you mean.

2. Get a rough draft together and let a PA decide the best course of action.

The best course of action is always a business decision to be decided by the client.  A patent attorney/agent can only give you a sense of costs and likelihoods of success.  The cost/benefit analysis is the client's job.

3. Will a PA help me refine things easily.

Not sure what you mean.  A patent practitioner will take whatever you produce and do their best to make a legit patent application out of it.

4. I'm UK based but want a US patent first and then european, ideally, if I have a defendable idea.

Noted. 

IS there any guide out there to building a software patent. is it me or am I finding it hard to easily find prior art. This is a private project so private money and I'd like to try to keep the budget in check.

I'm not aware of any guides.  Each case is unique (luckily for us professionals!).  The Patent Office here is not quite on top of searching software art, so I'm not surprised you're finding searching prior art challenging.  IEEE is a good place to look.  Any technical publications re software are good places to look.

Regards.

[MYK]

Don't know if the UK has the same rules, but in the U.S., an inventor who has invented something here must file here first, and then get approval (a "foreign filing license") before filing outside the U.S.

[bartmans]

Same is true for the UK (inventor living and invented in the UK, then file in the Uk first). However, it is fairly easy to get a foreign filing license from the Patent Office (even without filing an application).

[JimIvey]

Same here (US), you can get a foreign filing license without filing the application locally.

It's an important note and I'm glad others caught that I missed it.

Regards.

[SoftwareBod]

Thanks for the replies

To clarify: I have a roughed out innovation. I will continue to refine this and hire a Patent lawyer to advise on whether this can be patented. Its probably this bit which I find difficult, i.e. looking for prior art and knowing whether or not I have read the prior art correctly and have anything that can actually be done. Any ideas on the sort of costs for someone to look at the idea and decide whether or not it has legs?

Is it totally taken that I must file in the UK first? I'd rather have the US patent first and the UK or European later.

Thanks

[SoftwareBod]

I was also told that the UK doesn't really grant software patents. But I have taken a look and found that it appears that they do.

[JimIvey]

Proving a negative is impossible.  So, searching prior art is an open-ended task with a curve of diminishing returns.  Spend a little effort/money, and you can reduce uncertainty significantly.  Each increment of uncertainty removal thereafter takes ever increasing quantities of effort/money.  At some point, you have to decide that you've reached an acceptable degree of risk for an acceptable price.  That's entirely a business decision.  We professionals can search forever if you have that much money and concern.

As for software patents in Europe, they allow those and they don't.  It's all how your characterize it.  For example, software to something might not be patentable but digital logic to do the same thing might be.  It's complex.

Regards.