This is the second article in my series on the patent prosecution process. Previously, I discussed how to conceive a patentable idea and why a person would want to obtain a patent. This article talks about the next step in patent prosecution process: creating a working model.
In order to get a patent, the device has to do whatever the inventor claims that it does or be specific enough to enable someone who works in the field to make and use the invention. In patent speak this is a “reduction to practice.” This article will explain what a reduction to practice is and how it can be proven.
An actual reduction to practice occurs when there is a test under actual working conditions. To contrast a constructive reduction to practice occurs when a patent is filed that could enable someone to actually reduce the device to practice, but it hasn’t happened yet. The distinction only makes a difference when two separate inventors claimed to have invented the same thing.
Normally, the first person to file wins, but if the first person to file made a constructive reduction to practice and the second inventor made an actual reduction to practice, then the latter inventor wins. Also, it is typically easier to draft an application for something that exists than for something that doesn’t.
Once the inventor has created a model (or at least a sufficient description of one), the next step is to search to see if similar products already exist.