5. PROTECT AND EXPLOIT YOUR PATENT RIGHTS
Make money!
Inventors typically make money by selling a license to use their patent to another company that wants to market and sell the goods. So if you invent a new type of doll's clothes, Mattel would pay you to allow them to use those clothes for Barbie's next wardrobe. The license can be paid for in stock, money, royalties, or combinations of these. You should definitely talk to a lawyer about any license agreement you're considering, because if you get a company interested in purchasing a license to your patent and you receive an offer, the terms will be favorable to the company, not to you. You can grant an exclusive license to one company, or you can grant licenses to a number of companies.
You could also start your own company to make, use and market the invention. This is much more difficult; you're an inventor, not a manufacturer! However, if it's really easy to make and market, you can get googobs of money by keeping 100% of the profits to yourself.
Exclude others!
There are lots of nasty people out there who will use your idea without getting your permission (either on purpose or by accident). It is up to you to enforce your patent rights; nobody will be watching out for you. So if you even suspect that someone is making, using, or selling something you've patented without paying you for a license (this is called "patent infringement"), you must tell them to stop immediately. This is another time when it's best to consult a lawyer, because they are really good at telling people to stop doing things.
Patent infringement cases typically don't go to court; the infringer will usually either be talked into paying a license fee or will stop doing whatever they're doing. But if the infringer won't settle, you better take him/her to court. Every single use of your patent should mean money for you, and if someone is using your patent without paying you, you're getting ripped off. So on behalf of Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin, and all of the other inventors that have ever innovated, you should take the credit for your brilliance and make sure that others give you due credit too.
Finally, you should realize that you may have an idea for a product, draw up diagrams, and get yourself a patent… but not have the money to actually build the darn thing. Regardless of whether you can make the product or not, the idea is still yours, so the patent is still good. So if you patent an idea, never physically make it, but someone else later makes the exact same product, you're still protected.
Phew! That's the entire process of getting yourself rich off a patent. Yes, it's laborious (as most legal processes are), but it will be well worth the effort when you're counting your money on your newly-patented money-counting machine…
