01
Get paid per sale
A company makes the product and pays you a fee for each one they sell. That deal is called a license, and it depends on you owning the patent rights.
Everyday ideas · Laurel, Maryland
A simple improvement can be worth patenting.
You do not need a laboratory. A better version of something people already use can be patented. A patent can help you sell the idea, get paid when others sell it, or protect the business you build.
Most patents never earn their owners money. Whether yours does depends on the product, the market, and what you do with it.
Before you tell anyone
Talk to me before you post it, pitch it, or sell it.
A public post, a sale, or a crowdfunding page can start a clock. In some countries it can cost the patent entirely.
02
Sell the rights
In 1876 Joseph Glidden sold the rest of his barbed-wire patent to the largest U.S. wire maker for $60,000 plus royalties.
03
Build it yourself
You can make and sell the product, with a patent that makes copying you a legal problem for competitors. Spanx started with a better pair of shapewear pantyhose, and a patent written around exactly what made it better.
Improvements count
The idea can be a better version of something familiar.
Patents protect useful changes. A better piece of clothing, a stronger toy, a farm fence, or a sprinkler that saves work can all be worth a patent. The change has to be new and not obvious to someone in the field. I check that before you spend money on a filing.
Who I am
Ali Mohammadabadi, PhD
Registered U.S. Patent Agent · Reg. No. 81,965 · Laurel, Maryland
- PhD in biomedical engineering
- Drafted more than 40 patent applications at Wilson Sonsini, including provisional, full utility, and international filings.
- For licensing deals or disputes, I work with patent attorneys I can refer you to.
A filing written like a sales pitch often protects less than you think.
You bring the idea in ordinary words. I turn it into a patent filing aimed at the part that is worth protecting.
01
You explain it
A phone call and a few photos are enough. Talk about the problem, your fix, and whether anyone has already seen it.
02
I look for existing patents and products
Before any filing, I search for what is already out there. The change has to be new and not obvious to someone in the field. That check happens before you spend money on a filing.
03
I write the patent
The patent office needs a specific kind of write-up. I turn your story into that paper, aimed at the part of the idea that is worth money.
04
I stay on it
The office usually writes back with questions. I answer them, and I watch the dates so a late reply does not cost you the filing.
Where most people start
A provisional filing is the lower-cost first step.
It puts your idea and today’s date on record, lets you say “patent pending,” and gives you 12 months to test the market. It is not examined. The full application has to be filed within that year, or the date is lost.
From $1,500
See the costFrom patent history
Patents on everyday things
Well-known public stories, not clients of this practice, and I had no part in them. Results like these are rare. Most patents never earn their owners money.
Clothing people already wore
Footless shapewear that ends at the knee
A narrower patent on a familiar garment
Sara Blakely wanted a smooth line under white pants and open shoes. Footless pantyhose had already been patented. Her patent covered a specific garment: a firm control top reaching down the thigh, sheer legs ending near the knee, and knitted-in bands instead of tight elastic.
Shapewear and footless pantyhose already existed. Her patent described the specific features that made her version different.
Read the story