Agency helps inventors negotiate patents and trademarks
03/04/05
"South Dakotans are very reluctant with their ideas and inventions because they don't realize they've invented something that could have an impact," said Jared Clark , Director of Search Services with the Independent Inventor Institute, an allied agency of the Enterprise Institute. "They're not interested in making a lot of money. They're more interested in helping others."
The Enterprise Institute formed the Independent Investor Institute in 2002 to help entrepreneurs protect their inventions. Clark started in June 2002 and developed a search protocol for clients' ideas.
"The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) grants protection to inventions not shown or sold to the public for longer than a year. The minute a product is shown, the inventor gives up all foreign rights, so it's important to seek advice before developing an invention," Clark warned.
That's where the Independent Inventor Institute comes in. Researchers make patent and trademark searches of over 7 million patents on file with the USPTO. Patents protect machines, processes and ways of doing things for tangible products. Trademarks protect the source of a product, its name or slogan including words and images. Records show only 90 patents and 107 trademarks issued to South Dakotans in 2001 making the state last in registrations nationwide.
The mission of the Inventor Institute is to make independent inventors drivers of innovation helping them through procedural difficulties in the patent or trademark process. A search to see if a product is even patentable or needs further development costs $150, far less than prescribed legal fees, and gives attorneys the material they need to write a more complete, formal patent application.
Licensed professionals can also file applications. Clark plans to take the licensing exam this summer to expand what the Independent Inventor Institute offers.
Currently, once products are ready to be patented, the Inventor Institute refers clients to legal firms. The patenting process can take anywhere from 1 ½ to 3 years to complete.
Clark helped develop a search process whereby Independent Inventor Institute researchers comb through registered patents to see if a machine, process or product is already in the marketplace. Researchers perform "knock out" searches that look for areas of crossover that might infringe on the invention's design or use.
Sara Venhuizen, an SDSU Electrical Engineering student, and Hans Ditlev, an SDSM&T Chemical Engineering student conduct many of the searches using Clark 's protocol.
When Clark begins law school this fall, he hopes to continue working with inventors from offices in Sioux Falls or Yankton. Venhuizen works in Brookings and Ditlev in Rapid City , making statewide contact for the agency's services more convenient.
"I think it's wonderful to work with excited people, helping them develop their ideas to make life better for all of us," concludes Clark who seems to have that burgeoning, South Dakota entrepreneurial spirit.
For more information on the Independent Inventor Institute, visit their website at