There is one simple way to make money from the patent system. Come up with an idea. Patent it. And sell it to someone for a profit. Indeed, the reason patent rights are so valuable is because they give the owner a legal monopoly over their market. But, there is one thing that many inventors seem to fail to recognize.

All Ideas Are NOT Created Equal

Every inventor thinks that if they get a patent, their invention will bring them millions of dollars. This is simply not true. Not every idea is worth millions of dollars. In fact, thousands of ideas are patented each year that do not make a dime. A patent is one thing. A valuable patent that will make you money is an entirely different thing. That is why you should seek professional help from agencies like InventHelp. Learn how can inventors benefit by turning to InventHelp?

The Trick Is Knowing The Difference

While you can never know with absolute certainty whether your idea will make you money, you at least need to have what I call a “back-of-the-napkin” ballpark figure of how much your idea could be worth.

The patent process is not cheap, and it can take several years before you actually obtain a patent on your invention. For this reason, it is important to know what you are getting yourself into as early as possible. Always consult with professionals like Invent Help patent agency.

There are basically questions that you need to ask. The first question is this:

Is Your Idea Patentable?

This question is most easily answered, and most cheaply answered, by performing a patent search.

There are two main ways to search for patents relating to your invention. You can either go online and do a text search of the online patent databases. Or you can hire a search service located at the patent office in Washington, D.C, where printed copies of all of the patents are stored, and sorted by the type of invention.

In my opinion, a search at the patent office will produce much better results. The online databases tend to only have the most recent patents, whereas the Patent Office has every patent ever to issue. And you can imagine how difficult it is to choose the right online search terms to use. For example, an invention for a car may have similar patents under the words “vehicle” or “automobile” or “transportation means” and so on.