How many Patents?
By Yahoo User • Category: Do I Need It To Patent?Im trying to get a patent for one of my inventions but i need to know if i need to get multiple patents for the idea. the idea is the same except for one little piece….the size of the cord/plug input.here is a paragraph i took from the uspto website that hints at the fact that ill be all set…but i need to know for sureNovelty And Non-Obviousness, Conditions For Obtaining A PatentEven if the subject matter sought to be patented is not exactly shown by the prior art, and involves one or more differences over the most nearly similar thing already known, a patent may still be refused if the differences would be obvious. The subject matter sought to be patented must be sufficiently different from what has been used or described before that it may be said to be nonobvious to a person having ordinary skill in the area of technology related to the invention. For example, the substitution of one color for another, or changes in size, are ordinarily not patentable.
Is it not possible in your disclosure document to specify the features of both alternatives? In the quote above from uspto I think it rather refers to slight variations from an EXISTING patent - which would not qualify as a new invention, whereas yours would be variations within a NEW patent.Edit: On second thought: why don’t you file a provisional patent application first ( less expensive than a complete/final), specifying both options or for that matter, provisionals for both - investigate the costs involved) and see where it takes you.
You can file for a patent by refering to the other patents, called prior art. You state that you are improving on said patent and sometimes it will go through. Most all applicitaions are turned down the first time so you have to keep applying.