Sounds funny, I know.
A few months back, a co-worker and I submitted an idea to an internal Invention Committee. The submission alone gets you $75 bucks and a T-shirt. It was initially rejected, however my co-worker resubmitted it and apparently explained it slightly differently the second time he met with the committee and it was accepted.
From there a outside patent lawyer was assigned to take the information submitted and translate the technical idea into a lawyered up 30 page document that was ready to be submitted to the US Patent Office.
So what does this all mean.
First, a Patent application has been submitted to the US Patent Office with my name as co-inventor.
Second, with the filing of this Patent, I got a little bonus. Right before we officially submitted it, we signed a number of legal documents essentially saying that my employer owns the patent, and in return I'd get the bonus, which is completely fair.
Apparently it can take up to three years for the US Patent Office to review and either accept or reject the patent.
It was an interesting process and has gotten me a little more visibility to my boss and boss's boss.
