My idea is already patented, what to do now?

When an idea is discovered, many dreams and hopes of creating innovative products and successful businesses are also born. As an inventor, he believes that he achieved something great and his idea will help solve many problems in daily life. But what if you discover that the idea is already patented? It feels like you are hit by a brick wall, and all your money and efforts are wasted. What to do now? But do not worry! You still have a lot of IP monetization options that I’ve tried to cover in this article.

First, do as much research as you can about your idea, identify all the patents related to it, and check how many are active now. This is because most inventors and large corporations only focus on obtaining patents, but do not know the proper marketing strategy. Some try, but fail. As a result, they end up abandoning their patents. There is a good example of this below:

Catherine Hettinger invented a small toy for her daughter 2 decades ago and obtained a patent for it. He took his idea to many toy manufacturers, but could not find a marketing partner. As a result, he abandoned his patent. Later, the idea was chosen by many Chinese companies, who developed its modern versions and made a lot of money. The name of the product is “Fidget Spinner”, which became popular with children and even adults in 2017. You may have heard of it.

What if your idea has active patents? You don’t have to worry yet. Check the IP protection area, and there may be two scenarios:

1. Idea has active patents in a foreign country or region

A patent is a territorial right applicable in the country / region in which it is granted. If you find patents on your idea only in a foreign country / region, you can use their technologies, create a go-to-market strategy, manufacture, market and distribute products in your country / region. But, when patent holders extend the areas of protection to their region, you must obtain a license for the family of patents you are using.

2. Idea has active patents in your country / region

If you discovered that there are active patents for your idea in your country / region, don’t throw your hands away! You still have a chance to use your idea. It may be that your idea has some advanced features, which are absent from the proprietary ones. It may be that patents won’t make it to the market you want to target, or that the inventors tried but failed. So you can turn those unused patents into successful products using a proprietary intellectual property strategy.

Conduct a comprehensive study on all the elements of your idea, and the different market segments and verticals of patent claims. If you get some unique items, do some market research, develop further and file the IP application.

What if patents are successful and inventors sell products? That still doesn’t stop you. Take an in-depth study of the products and the technologies that support them and see what additional features you can add. Prepare models of the modified versions of the products, organize meetings with the inventors and you may have the opportunity to be part of successful businesses.