Women Invent! by Susan Casey

Author:Susan Casey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2012-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Andrea Tierney. coinventor of The Bug House. Courtesy of John Tierney.

After being granted Patent Number 3,272,376, Andrea and John also registered a trademark for the name and design of the words “The Bug House.” Although Andrea died several years ago, John and their daughters continue to manufacture the bug holder. The profits from its sales have paid for the college educations of the girls who had collected those first bugs.

PATENTS LAST FOR a period of only fourteen to twenty years from their filing date. They are designed to protect inventors as they begin a business; during that time, if inventors discover that someone is making and selling a product based on their invention, they have the legal right to make them stop. Or they can demand that the other company pay for the right to use their invention.

After a patent has expired, an invention becomes part of the public domain. That means that the invention can be made and sold by anyone. To keep the patent protection, inventors often create an improvement on their invention—an innovation—and gain another patent and continued protection.

Not every inventor applies for a patent. Bette Graham didn’t. She was the inventor of Liquid Paper. At the time she created the quick-drying paint, she could not afford the costs of applying. She protected her invention in another way—by using a trademark. A trademark is either a word, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies a product. She trademarked the name Liquid Paper.

Applying for and gaining a trademark can cost less than $500—less expensive than applying for a patent. Another advantage is that, unlike a patent, a trademark does not expire. It must be renewed, but it lasts indefinitely. Some other famous trademarks are Kleenex, Xerox, and Levi’s. A capital R in a circle (®)next to an image or name indicates the name is trademarked for the entire United States. “TM” is another symbol for a trademark.

Cost is not the only reason inventors gain a trademark instead of a patent. To apply for a patent, an inventor must reveal the way a product is made and its ingredients. That’s why the owners of Coca-Cola did not gain a patent. They did not want to reveal the secret ingredient in the drink that makes the taste so unusual. The recipe for Coca-Cola is a trade secret.

Not all trademarks are the same. Think of the way the words “Liquid Paper” or “Coca-Cola” appear on the containers. Those images are trademarked. As with a patent, if another company uses the same name or image, the company with the trademark can take legal action to stop them.

When Dran Reese of Monrovia, California, created QuakeHold, a putty-like substance that can be placed under objects to secure them to tabletops or shelves, she did not want to reveal the ingredients. “If we patented it we would have to reveal the chemical composition. Then anyone could have made it,” said Dran. She filed instead for trademark protection. If others make a copycat product, her attorney writes a letter demanding that they stop making a product that looks like QuakeHold.

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