INVO's Evaluation

The USPTO will not patent mathematical equations or abstract ideas that are not implemented.

If your patent application is filed too early, it may have insufficient data. This is significant for a few reasons:

• Priority date: After one year, a provisional patent application need to be converted to a formal, or non-provisional application. If your original provisional application is incomplete and new concepts are added to the formal application, the USPTO will note the discrepancy between applications and change your priority date to your formal application filing date. If an inventor with the same invention files between your original provisional filing date and formal application date, they would have an earlier priority date.
• USPTO detail requirements: Each patent application must be "enabled," or include sufficient details for others in the field (or "skilled in the art") to recreate it.

• Northwestern files patent applications for inventions that may become a product or be incorporated into a product and be licensed. Note that some inventions (such as research tools, software, copyright and methods) can be commercialized without patents. Northwestern also considers whether there is a market for the product.

These potential hurdles will not prevent filing, but they are a consideration weighed by invention managers.

• Patenting is expensive; each application may cost over $25,000 in the United States and more than $100,000 in other individual countries. INVO must determine which inventions have a greater chance of being licensed and making it to the public as a commercialized product.

• Invention managers may spend time identifying "prior art," or similar inventions that have already been patented. This is one of the USPTO's primary factors when evaluating a patent application. If INVO identifies prior art before the application is filed, you can help determine factors that differentiate it from those inventions and our legal team can build a stronger case.

• Our attorneys will break down your invention into smaller unique elements or "claims." These may be broad or, if many similar patents exist, the claims may be smaller or "narrow." By breaking the technology down into smaller elements, we may be able to protect parts of your invention if the entire technology cannot be patented.

INVO will file a provisional application with the USPTO. Learn about the provisional application, which is the first step in the patent application process.

The invention may go through a second round of evaluation after more data is received. It would then be either accepted for filing or deemed unpatentable.

The invention is archived or released back to its inventors. After their invention is released, an inventor may seek ownership of the IP. INVO can assist inventors in obtaining the necessary waivers for research sponsor approval to transfer ownership from Northwestern to the inventor(s).