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FYI (For Your Information): About Patents

What is a patent? The American Heritage dictionary defines a patent as:

A grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell that invention for a set period of time.

A government awarded patent protects a designer's creative property. In the United States, a patent is awarded by the Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C. Patents are only granted to designs that are truly original. A patent helps to deter others from "stealing" an original idea by making, using, or selling a protected invention.

According to law, patents are awarded to "any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof..." Patents are also given for ornamental designs, plants, and new forms of animal life.

What is an Imagination Place! patent? An Imagination Place! patent is somewhat different from a government awarded patent. An Imagination Place! patent:

Identifies a design/invention as one of a kind yet it does not restrict others from borrowing and using interesting idea/s contained within the patented design/invention. As a matter of fact, it is the policy of IP! to encourage the sharing of ideas.

Imagination Place! patents have the potential to be valuable sources of information for all Imagination Place! designers. An Imagination Place! Patent, obtained from the Imagination Place! in KAHooTZ Patent Office, contains several parts including:

• The name of the invention
• The name of the inventor
• Information indicating what and/or who the invention is for and why it is important
• Links to the actual invention and to the ad created for the invention.

The registration process gathers together all the information about an invention and makes it available through the Patent Office. Imagination Place! Patents make designs/inventions easier to find in the KAHooTZ environment. These patents can be used by new designers as a source of ideas -- a collection of the kinds of things that can be created in Imagination Place!. They can also be used by experienced IP! designers as a means of comparison for designers who have already created an invention. An Imagination Place! Patent recognizes the hard work of a young designer and encourages others to keep trying. IP! patents are most important because they document a designer / inventors work amd they allowinvention ideas and inventions to be shared.

What To Do:

1. At this point, the young designers participating in your design club, have probably done a lot of work on their designs and inventions. In this workshop they will have the opportunity to recognize how much they have done by combining work from various sources to register for a patent. They wil also have a chance to reflect on their creative accomplishments by preparing a presentation of their design/invention to their fellow designers. As participants begin to organize for applying for a patent, they need to understand what a patent is and why it is important.
2. Get participants started with the patent process by encouraging them to brainstorm about what they know about patents. (Braintorming Tips are available if you need them.)
3. Once the brainstoriming session is over, you might want to have participants find out information about patents and/or inventions. You might have them find information in books, on cd-roms, or go out on the World Wide Web.
4. Have participants prepare the information they have found so that they can share with the rest of the group.
5. Ask for a volunteer to begin sharing information found about patents and/or inventions. Revisit the brainstorming list. Help participants compare what they found out about patents with what their initial impression of patents was. After the sharing is complete, introduce the idea of an Imagination Place patent. Explain to your group how an Imagination Place! Patent is similar to the patents they found information about and how it is different. (See "What is an Imagination Place! patent" above.) Also go over the process of registering for a patent in Imagination Place!
6. Either copy the Request for Imagination Place! Patent Registration Form Checklist large enough so that all participants can see it or hand out individual copies. This list should help make participants aware of what they need to sucessfully complete a patent.
7. As participants collate their design "portfolios" to register for patents, remind them that they will have opportunities to share the story of their invention with others in the group. Encourage them to think about how they would like to share what they have accomplished with the rest of the group. Allow time for these preparations.