When asked: “Who in history has made the most significant social changes to our world?” many people might first think of a religious figure, or a country’s leader. However, the most profound changes to our way of life have always been accomplished by inventors. Things like printing presses, light bulbs, computers, and toilet paper have shaped how we live our day to day lives. Inventions and innovations are the true driving force of our economy.
Personally, I’ve looked into patenting my invention ideas several times. I always come to the same road block: It costs too much, it takes too much time, and the whole process is confusing.
United States Patent and Trademark Office
There are many companies out there that “help” inventors with the ordeal of running patent searches and filling out all the appropriate paper work. Their services can end up costing an inventor thousands upon thousands of dollars. If the prospective inventor finds out that someone else has already “beat them to the punch,” then they’re out of a lot of money all for nothing.
If I were the Emperor of the United States, I would set up a free program for private individuals seeking to get their ideas patented. Government patent assistants would be available to assist individuals in putting their ideas down on paper in coherent ways, running patent searches, and filling out all the appropriate paper work. Patent applications would be free. Even if there was a program that deferred the cost of these services until after a new invention began making money, it would still be better for our country than our current system. It would insight people to do something more with their ideas than leaving them locked up in their notebooks or brains. It would put power in the hands of the individual who is currently at a huge disadvantage to large corporations who can afford to get their inventions patented. It just might make the difference between whether or not our country has the leading edge on technology in the coming future.
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