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BY CHELYEN DAVIS

Kimberly Newton thought of her invention four years ago.

But it wasn't until her friends told her that if she didn't patent her idea, they would, that she decided to pursue it. She thought getting a patent would be easy.

She was wrong. It turned out coming up with the idea for her invention was the easiest part.

In theory, it should be simple to get a patent: do a patent search to make sure no one else has patented the idea, then file an application with the U.S. Patent Office.

But even a patent search is complicated, only as good as your search terms. Then the application requires drawings. Patent examiners routinely kick back applications for various reasons, requiring an applicant to figure out what to change and resubmit the application.

There's a reason, in short, why patent lawyers also have a degree in engineering or a science and have to pass a special federal patent bar exam in addition to a state bar.

Newton started with online research to find out where to start, but quickly decided the best place to start was with a patent lawyer.

Not all aspiring inventors make that choice. Patent lawyers are expensive, and employees at the patent office are taught to be helpful to those inexperienced with the process.

Newton said people she talked with in the patent office were very helpful, but she still decided she needed more guidance. She chose Stafford attorney Bill Klima.

Klima isn't cheap either--he says it can typically cost an inventor several-thousand dollars in legal fees and application fees to get through the first stages of the patent process, and that can quickly grow as patent examiners reject parts of the patent application.

But, Klima said, the patent process can be mystifying without an experienced attorney to guide you through it. If an inventor gets frustrated by the process and gives up, they'll never see a return on what they've already sunk into their invention.

Klima said patent examiners routinely reject some aspect of patent applications--perhaps the claims made in the application are too broad, or the examiner declares that the product to be patented is so obvious anyone could come up with it.

A patent attorney then rewrites the application to try to get around those rejections, Klima said, and to ultimately get the client a patent that might stand up in court.

It's complex legal work, Klima said, and it's skewed toward corporations with the money to pay for lawyers, for the patent fees (which can run in the thousands of dollars as well) and for potential litigation, and manufacture and marketing of a product.

Still, individuals who are willing to put in the time and work (and money) to patent an invention can find it worthwhile.

Klima said he's worked with many individuals like Newton, who had an idea for something and want to sell it.

His first bit of advice for those people is "protect first, market second."

Klima said he sees a lot of people who try to sell the idea before they protect it with a patent application. Those people run the risk of losing ownership of their idea.

He also tells clients that filing a patent is essentially starting a business: if they want to see that patent result in them making money off a product, they're going to have to do research, do marketing work, investigate manufacturing options, etc.

"I'm literally becoming an educator, a teacher, because of most of these people have no experience," Klima said.

That's true in Newton's case. She's a hairstylist, not a patent expert.

She came up with her invention while looking for a way to help herself and her co-workers keep track of the chemicals they mixed to color hair.

The mixes went in identical bowls, and one moment of distraction could lead to all the bowls having to be thrown out if a stylist lost track of which was which.

So Newton came up with a dry-erase board that can be clipped to each bowl, on which the stylist can write down the mixture of chemicals to go in that bowl. Newton says it will help stylists keep track of what they've mixed and save salons money.

"The salon owners are going to love it because no one's ever going to have to throw color away," Newton said.

Newton is about a month into the patent-pending process. She and Klima have filed her application, so she has protection for her idea while she markets it, at least in the U.S. (International patents are another hurdle).

She's pursuing contacts at some large cosmetic corporations to license her idea--that means they pay her a fee to make and sell her clip themselves--and she's also working on manufacturing some of the clips to sell herself.

In the meantime, it could take a year or two for Newton's patent application to win approval, and she'll have to be persistent as Klima works through rejections of aspects of her application.

"This is not like winning the lottery," Klima said. "You're going to have to work and invest money."

Still, though, he thinks there are only two ways to make a windfall fortune these days: real estate, and patenting potentially lucrative ideas.

Despite the cost and work involved in getting a patent, Newton thinks anyone with an idea for an invention should pursue it. She's already working on a second idea, she said. She just wants other people to be prepared for the work it involves.

"The research has been really hectic the last three months," Newton said. "It's been nothing but research, contacts, calls. There's just so many things that you don't know."

Chelyen Davis: 540/368-5028
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com

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