Patents
What is a patent?
A patent is an intellectual property right granted by the Government of the United States of America to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States” for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.
This right was established over 200 years ago in Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution: “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”
General Information Concerning Patents [HTML] [PDF]
There are three types of patents
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Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof;
- See here for the Process for Obtaining a Utility Patent
- Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; and
- Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.
Frequently used online tools and information
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Patent Examiner Technical Training Program
The USPTO has instituted a Patent Examiner Technical Training Program which formalizes the process for seeking public assistance in providing technical training to patent examiners. In the past, the USPTO has had success with patent examiner training programs in very specific areas. Building on that success, this program creates a corps-wide effort open to all technology areas in all Technology Centers. Read more
Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) - Fast Track Examination of Applications
Under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), an applicant receiving a ruling from the Office of First Filing (OFF) that at least one claim in an application filed in the OFF is patentable may request that the Office of Second Filing (OSF) fast track the examination of corresponding claims in corresponding applications filed in the OSF. PPH will leverage fast-track examination procedures already available in the OSF to allow applicants in the OSF to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently. Read more
