Mechanical Engineers and Protecting IP

Mechanical engineers are often at the center of innovation, even if they may not realize it. In the process of solving complex problems and refining designs, many engineers overlook a critical aspect of their work: protecting the intellectual property (IP) created in the process.

According to Tony Laurentano, an IP attorney with the law firm Nelson Mullins, the most pressing challenge for most engineers is knowing when they have something worth protecting.

Knowing innovation is patent worthy

“Engineers don’t always recognize when the work they do is innovative enough to be patentable,” said Laurentano, whose patent work is almost exclusively with engineers who are “generally hard-wired to be humble.”

He explained that engineers “think that if they can figure something out, anyone can. An engineer could have a stroke of genius and develop a design, a process or device that’s incredibly creative or unique, but because they solve complex problems every day, it just feels routine to them.”