Marking Your Product with Patent Pending or a Patent Number

What is Patent Pending vs. a Patent Number?

Hi, I'm Rich Beem. I'm a patent attorney in Chicago and I'd like to talk with you about patent pending and marking your product with patent pending and, or the patent number. So what is patent pending? It's very simple. It means that you have files a patent application. Normally, that will be in the US Patent and Trademark Office if you are an American. So you can put US Patent Pending. You can put US and International, US international and foreign patents pending.

Why would you want to do that? It's because you want to let people know that if they copy your product, they are at risk. They're at risk that your patent might issue. They don't know what date patent application was file. They don't know exactly what your patent application covers for at least 18 months after the filing of the patent application, because the US Patent and Trademark Office, like all patent offices around the world, they keep your patent application confidential and secret until the publication date 18 months after filing. So patent pending is a good deter ant to infringement. It can also get you some respect when you're dealing with manufacturers and distributors and competitors.

Now, when your patent issues, it's important to put the patent number on the product. That's called marking. And that's important because, again, it tells people that you actually have a patent and it tells them that they are at risk if they copy your product without your permission. It also, importantly, sets in motion damages. If you sell your product without marking the patent number on it, you cannot collect damages until you actually put the infringer on notice, which can be done by filing a lawsuit against them.

So patent pending and marking of the patent number, those are two important things for you to do as an inventor and as someone who's involved in the patent process. And the most important thing of all of this is that to get patent rights you have to file a patent application. And the sooner you do that, the better off you are. You want an early filing date. As soon as you have enough detail on the invention to support a patent application and we can talk with you about whether you're ready or not, you want to get that patent application on file.

Call me so I can talk with you so that you can get the information that you need to get your patent application under way to get patent pending and to get a patent number to mark on your product. I'm at 312-201-0011. I'm Rich Beem. Thank you for joining me.