Patent info

A patent is a grant of a property right by the U.S. Government to the inventor. The
property right granted is the right of the inventor to exclude others from making,
using or selling the invention in the U.S. and its possessions. Patents are granted
for a term of 20 years from the date the patent application is filed with the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

The subject matter of a patent may be a product, an apparatus, a method of
making, or a method of using. The subject matter must be useful, novel, and
nonobvious.

A valid patent may not be obtained if the invention was in public use or on sale in
this country prior to the filing of your patent application.

An applicant may be granted a patent. The applicant maybe a person or entity, however, all applications must have at least one inventor.

Utility Patents are granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and
useful process, machine, manufacture, or compositions of matter, or any new and
useful improvement thereof. Process means a process or method such as new
industrial or technical processes. Compositions of matter relates to chemical
compositions and may include mixtures of ingredients as well as new chemical
compounds.

Design Patents are granted to any person who has invented a new, original and
ornamental design for an article of manufacture. The appearance of the article is
protected.

Plant Patents are granted to any person who has invented or discovered or
asexually reproduced any distinct and new variety of plant, including cultivated
species, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a
tuber-propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.

Patents are important and valuable assets because a patent gives an owner of
the patent the right to exclude all others from making, using, or selling the invention
in the U.S. and its possessions. These property rights allow the inventor to profit
from his/her invention for a limited time through the licensing of these rights
individually or in combination. The inventor may also sell all or part of his/her interest
in the patent application or patent to anyone by a properly worded assignment. The application must be filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as the invention of the true
inventor, however, and not as the invention of the person who has purchased the
invention from the inventor.

How long does a patent last? Utility patents may last for 20 years from the patent
application filing date. The total life of the patent is conditioned on the owner
paying maintenance fees at the 3, 7, and 11 year intervals of a patent’s life.
Design patents last for 14 years. Once the patent expires, the subject matter of the
patent enters the public domain for anyone to use.