To be granted a patent, you must convince the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) that your invention is novel, nonobvious, and useful. These three criteria are known as the patentability criteria. The issue is, whether your invention meets these three criteria is a subjective determination meaning one person may think your invention is novel, nonobvious, and useful but another person may not. To increase your chances of patent approval, you will want to maximize the chances that someone looking at your invention will consider your invention to be novel, nonobvious, and useful.
Maximize Invention Novelty
One way to increase the chances of patent approval is to make your invention as novel as possible since novelty is one of the three patentability criteria. Novelty is determined based on whether someone has already thought of your invention. As long as nobody has invented the same thing you have invented, you generally will be considered novel by the Patent Office. For the Patent Office to say you are not novel, they need to find a single existing invention that is the same as your invention. That is not an easy task for the Patent Office. For example, let’s say you invent a bread toaster that has 10 slots to toast 10 pieces of bread at one time. You of course are not the inventor of the traditional toaster with 2 slots, but you improved the traditional toaster to have 10 slots. For the Patent Office to say your 10 slotted toaster is not novel, the Patent Office must find evidence that someone has already invented a 10 slotted toaster. If the Patent Office cannot find evidence of this, then the Patent Office must admit that you have invented a novel invention by inventing the 10 slotted toaster, and that you meet the first patentability requirement.
To increase the chances of being considered novel, you will want to add as many features to your invention as possible. The more features you have, the higher the chance of being considered novel when compared to existing inventions because it is harder it is for the Patent Office to find an existing single invention that has all the features of your invention.
Maximize Invention Nonobviousness
The second way to increase the chances of patent approval is to make your invention as nonobvious as possible since nonobviousness is one of the three patentability criteria. Nonobviousness is determined by whether someone in the industry of your invention would say that your invention would have been easily thought of, or not easily thought of. In our toaster example, you have invented a toaster with 10 slots which can toast 10 pieces of bread at the same time. You didn’t invent the traditional toaster that has 2 slots. The question is, would someone in the toaster making industry think that your 10 slotted toaster would have been easily thought of? Is taking a 2 slotted toaster and turning it into a 10 slotted toaster easily thought of? Or did it involve a “flash of creative genius” for you to think of taking that 2 slotted toaster and making it into a 10 slotted toaster? I can tell you, the Patent Office will surely argue that your improvement of the 2 slotted toaster to a 10 slotted toaster would have been easily thought of and therefore, your invention is not nonobvious, but rather, obvious. An obvious invention does not meet the patentability criteria of being nonobvious and therefore cannot obtain a patent. The Patent Office’s job is to argue why your invention is obvious and that is why most patent applications receive at least one rejection. Now, you do not have to agree. You can argue back against the Patent Office, insisting that it is so nonobvious to turn a 2 slotted toaster into a 10 slotted toaster. Ultimately, however, the Patent Office decides whether they will grant you a patent based on their opinion of whether your invention is nonobvious.
To increase the chances of being considered nonobvious, add as many features to your invention as possible. The more features your invention has, the higher the chance of convincing the Patent Office that your invention is nonobvious. For example, trying to convince the Patent Office that it is nonobvious to turn a 2 slotted toaster into a 10 slotted toaster may be tough. However, let’s say your improved toaster also has an auto cleaning feature that blows out all the crumbs collected inside. Let’s say it has oval shaped slots perfect for bagels. Let’s say it has sensors to stop automatically once the bread is at the perfect toastiness. Let’s say it has Bluetooth so you can control the toaster from your phone. Now it’s a little easier to convince the Patent Office that your improved toaster with all these features is “nonobvious” when compared to the traditional toaster. It’s harder for the Patent Office to say that it would have been easy to think of combining all those features into a traditional 2 slotted toaster. Your chances of patentability are therefore higher by introducing more features to your invention.
Maximize Invention Usefulness
The third patentability criteria of being useful is an easy criterion to meet so we won’t discuss it much. The Patent Office rarely says an invention is not useful. As long as your invention accomplishes something and works, it will be considered useful. Focus on making your invention as novel and nonobvious as possible to maximize the chances of patent approval.
Another tip is to have a patent professional do a patent search which can help you maximize your invention’s novelty and nonobviousness. A patent search allows you to see similar inventions that already exist so you may improve upon those existing inventions. By adding as many features as you can to existing inventions before applying for a patent, you then have a better chance of convincing the Patent Office that your invention is novel and nonobvious, thus increasing your chances of patent approval.
Read More: How to Get a Patent by Being “Nonobvious”
