Hi Kids,

Welcome to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's web pages for kids. Whether you are an inventor or just want to know more about inventors and intellectual property - patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets - you'll find lots of interesting information here and perhaps some fun too.

At this very moment inventors all over the world are shaping their ideas into inventions that they will send to the United States Patent and Trademark Office as patent applications. We'll examine those applications to see if they qualify to receive patents. Ultimately, those inventions, protected by patent grants, will be available in the marketplace. There, they may be sold under specific trademark names that have been registered at the Patent and Trademark Office. Someday, you and I might buy those products we recognize by their trademarks, and find that our lives have changed tremendously.

What do you think our world would be like without Alexander Graham Bell's telephone? Garrett Morgan's traffic light? Or An Wang's computer technology? Police officers and soldiers are safer today because of Stephanie Kwolek's development of Kevlar, the fibers used to make bullet-proof vests. Look around you; do you see other famous inventions nearby that you know by their trademarks? Velcro? Kleenex? Nike? They're everywhere!

The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted over 170,000 patents last year and registered or renewed over 120,000 trademarks. Just think about it. Someone receives a patent grant every 3 minutes or registers a trademark every 5 minutes. It may have been done by you or someone you know - your brother or sister, mother or father, aunt, uncle, friend, or teacher. Anyone anywhere can be an inventor and file patent and trademark applications.

I hope your interest in the United States Patent and Trademark Office continues. I also hope that it is contagious and spreads throughout your school and community.

Sincerely, Jon Dudas Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office