By Staff

With August being National Inventors Month, the Finding Benjamin gang has decided to apply for a patent. Our invention? Why it’s the black light golf ball finder of course! We have done a preliminary search to see if there is anything out there similar to our idea, and the closest thing we came up with was a pair of awkward glasses that make you look like Elton John, supposedly making the golf ball stand out when it is tangled in long grass and brush. We think our idea is much better. 

There’s not much to it. All it consists of is a garden tool with a battery-powered black light connected. 

The patent process is quite lengthy (avg. two years), but is important to do because you don’t want people stealing your hard work. For those of you who have invention ideas just like us, we will go over some tips to make the patent process easier for you. 

• If you don’t want to pay for a lawyer to help you out in the process, you can still do it yourself. If you don’t have a lawyer, the law still requires a patent examiner to assist the inventor. 
• First and foremost, make sure your invention even qualifies for patent protection. You can find guidelines at USPTO.
• Keep a detailed record of the invention process. If there is something you think could be signed and dated, sign and date it! And get a couple witnesses to sign too while your at it. 
• Do some research about the type of market you want to enter, and also conduct a thorough search to make sure there is nothing too similar to your invention.
• Time to apply with USPTO. You can either file a regular patent application, or a provisional patent application. Requirements for a provisional patent application include a small fee, a detailed description stating how you make and use your invention, and a drawing or photo.

Let us know what you think about the whole idea! Should we scrap it or continue the patent process?