Can an invention obtain legal protection by mailing a “sealed” letter to themselves or another which includes details of the invention (“poor man’s patent”)?
The “poor man’s patent” is a myth, there is no such thing. If one mails a sealed letter to themselves with specific details related to an invention included therein, such an action will not provide an Inventor with legal protection.
To obtain legal protection for a utilitarian invention, one must file a patent application and subsequently obtain a patent grant from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). To get the patent process started, some inventors choose to file a provisional patent application prior to filing a non-provisional patent application (please note the time deadline noted in the foregoing article for filing the subsequent non-provisional application). The decision regarding whether a provisional or non-provisional patent application should be filed requires consideration of a number of factors which are discussed in other articles published on this web site.
The best practice one should always follow regarding the patent application process is to consult a registered patent attorney as soon as one believes they have developed an invention which has commercial significance in the marketplace. Further, the foregoing statement cannot be stressed enough as various actions (or inaction) on the part of the inventor may result in a statutory bar upon the invention.