This story underscores the importance of documenting your invention.

A True Story

A professor at a small college, along with his advanced molecular biology students and scientists at other colleges and universities, developed a gene therapy that was based on a nonobvious use of a bacterium. The formulation had the potential of changing how certain medical conditions, including infertility, were treated. Many other people -- not in the professor's research group -- were working on the same idea, and when the professor's group applied for a patent, they discovered that a group of researchers from Australia (who he knew were working on the same problem) had filed their own patent application at about the same time.

Everybody hired lawyers and asked an arbitrator to determine who thought of the idea first. They produced their lab books, and it appeared that the Australians may have been first. But then, the lawyer representing the college and the professor reached into his briefcase and pulled out a notebook. The notebook belonged to a student of the professor, who took thorough and detailed notes in class. The professor had come up with the idea of the gene therapy while he was teaching a class, and had speculated out loud about it. The student's notes were dated two years before the Australians' record of their research. In the end, the arbitrator awarded the professor and his group the patent.

This story wonderfully illustrates why keeping good records must be a priority while you work on your invention. If your patent application is challenged or if you discover someone has infringed on it, good documents may well be the key to winning the dispute.

Here are some more reasons why you should keep records of your progress:

• You will need good records to prove that you are the inventor.
• Good records are an indication that you are careful and methodical about your work; they show you are reliable. Think of them as evidence of your character.
• Good records can help you at income-tax time by establishing deductions for expenses relating to your invention, and to stave off the IRS if you're audited.
• Good records may prove that you had the idea first.
• Good records may prove that you were the first to turn the idea into a physical object or specific process. Patent people call this act a "reduction to practice."
• Good records help establish that your idea is new and original.
• Good records can stimulate creativity and help you analyze your work.

This checklist outlines what you should do to ensure that your invention and your rights in it will be protected.