Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey

A friend of mine came up with an idea for a product and asked me to join him in creating it. Shortly there-after, he hit a roadblock in the development/engineering of the product, and has since halted any progress. He has not responded to any of my queries regarding the product's development, and to my knowledge has lost interest in the creation of the product. Since there was no patent created, and no confidentiality agreements signed, would he have any legal recourse if I were to go ahead and create this product myself and patent it?


Asked on 2/23/10, 9:51 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

You can continue to develop the product, but don't count on getting a patent. A patent can only issue to the inventor. So, you can only apply for a patent on that portion of the product that you have invented. Those issues can get very complex. If you think that you may have something that is worthy of a patent in the end, I suggest that you consult a patent attorney. Stay away from invention development companies; they are rarely of much help with anything but spending your money.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 2/28/10, 11:18 am


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