One of the most damaging situations that can hurt the success of your invention is when you have developed an award-winning product only to have your competition copy and profit from your idea. For this reason it is strongly recommended that you patent your product upon its completion. We will be going over different types of protections available to you through the government, which will help you choose one that best fits your needs

First lets take a closer look at what a patent does basically it provides protection by giving you sole production rights to your product. However, this limits you to one country and will be only valid for a specific number of years. You should also know that in order to attain a patent you have to meet certain requirements, which include having a unique creation new to the market along with the planned process intended for production. The thought behind this being an idea is just an idea if it can't be produced

Now lets say you want to produce and market your product worldwide. This would require you to register your patent in every other country. Thus making the patent valid for up to 20 yrs providing you register every year after the first 4 yrs from the date which the patent was granted. Keep in mind if there becomes a lapse of registration during any year the patent will expire and become fair game to your competition

Next we have design rights, they can last for 15 years but provide limited protection. The problem being that the protection is very vague due to the fact there is no initial description of your product under this right. There for if you feel your competition has copied your idea you have the difficult task of proving your case.

Last we are going to cover the register design, it can last for 25 years and is far more comprehensive than design rights. Under this protection just about every aspect of your design is covered from the color, texture, line, contours, materials used, down to a 2 dimensional design of your product. So if you are in need of comprehensive protection the design right would be highly recommended.

Protect your idea and product by deterring your competition from profiting off you hard work