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[MarionR18]

Can you patent a design for a piece of furniture?  Or is this something that you would need a copywright for?

If you manufacture this piece of furniture, can it then be patented?  The furniture has a function to it and there is nothing like it being sold (from what I have searched so far).

[M. Arthur Auslander]

Dear MarionR18,

You can do most anything yourself, but unless you understand the law as it applied to your need and  explained in terms of what you want and what you can get and how much it costs you can waste a lot of time money and worry.

What is worse, even just finding a professional that specializes in Inetellectual Property law who is admitted to practice before the Patent and Trademark Office is no assurance that you are going to get answers to give the guidance your needs to help you have a good chance to obtain your goals or be warned that they are NOT acheivable.

There are advertizers that make multi-multimillions and get patents. Overall I believe the statistics are that only one in ten thousand get back more than they pay.

From my experience in this forum, I feel that the professionals that have posted here seem knowledgeable and competant.

A proper mix of Patent, Trademark, Trade Secret and Copyright Law may be found for you to minimize risk and maximize the chance of sucess.

One of the very best patents I ever got, I got for a personal friend of mine. We showed it to a company that did not take it.

Then within a short period of time The company we showed it to won an industrial prize of $50,000,000 for something not as good that did not infringe the patent.

The electric plug in your outlet may have been patented by my first law partner.

[Marion]

There is a product that I have developed and I don't know if I am able to patent it.  I'll describe it as an organizer.  There are "envelopes" that can be used to insert papers.  Also there are pages and each one has a form on it that is to be filled out by the buyer.  My search on the government's patent web site doesn't show anyone using my method to put it together.

Is this an item that I can patent?  Will the "form" that I have developed be part of that patent or must I get a copyright for the form?

This is my 3rd question on this site but after years of thinking up products, I am ready to go to the next step.  I am just trying to figure out which item to start with.  

Your help is greatly appreciated.

[JimIvey]

The organizer is the type of thing that can be patented, provided it's both novel and not obvious.  However, the novelty (the part that distinguishes what others have done or described) can't be in the "written matter" -- the text of the form.

I'm tempted to say that the form can be the subject of copyright protection, but you're better off getting that answer from the copyright forum on this site.

Regards.

[M. Arthur Auslander]

Dear MarionR18,

What you have suggested could be patentable. There are many traps in the various laws. It is my understanding that if you Divulge or Use your invention before the first patent application is filed you may lose valid foreign rights. Thus you also have to be careful. Disclosure to a patent lawyer should be all right. If is it good it may have international significance.