My friend thought I was being silly when I started looking into how to patent an invention. I guess I have always been seen as somewhat of a crackpot within my group of friends – not without reason. I am always drawn to far out ideas and unusual concepts. Part of it is intellectual curiosity, but another part of it is a simple love of novelty. I like the idea of thinking something that no one has ever thought before, even if it isn’t the most sound and rational thought. So when I began the process of filing for an invention patent, everyone thought it was something crackpot and insane.
The fact that I wouldn’t talk about it did not do anything to dissuade my friends from their opinions. It wasn’t that I was afraid of them stealing my invention patents or anything. I really trust my friends deeply, but I don’t believe in discussing projects while I am in the middle of them. Once I starts talking, I never managed to finish my project usually. I thought that, once I had filed for my invention patents, I would talk their ears off about it until they wished I had never mentioned it. In the meantime, however, I wanted to keep my mouth shut.
Patenting an invention is harder than you might think. Invention patents, you see, require quite a few steps. First off, you have to make sure that no one has design something similar to what you are building before – no easy task. After that, however, it only gets harder. I suppose that if you are trained in drafting, invention patents are easy. For me, however, it was pretty difficult. You need to explicitly described every detail of how your invention works, and to do that you need pages and pages of graphs and charts. I am sure the dozens of inventors patents never get filed every year just because it is too much work!
Ultimately, however, I am pretty sure that invention patents are worth it. It isn’t just that I dream of making a fabulous amount of money off of my invention – although that is part of it. I want to see people making use of something that I have invented in order to make their life easier or more pleasant. I think that this, more than anything else, drives many of the great inventors. The history of patents is long and fascinating, filled with eccentric geniuses who are driven by a vision of a better future through invention.