What Is a Patent?

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by your country’s Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 10 or 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. A patent grants are effective only within your country, its territories, and its possessions. Under certain circumstances, patent term extensions or adjustments may be available.


The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention. Once a patent is issued, the patentee must enforce the patent without aid of the office.


There are three types of patents:


1) 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;


2) Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; and


3) Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.



What Is a Trademark or Servicemark?


A trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device that is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms “trademark” and “mark” are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks.


Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. Trademarks which are used in interstate or foreign commerce may be registered with the Patent and Trademark office.


The Patent Process


The first thing to do, in pursuing a patent for an invention, is to search for other patents of the same kind. If an invention similar to yours has already been patented, you will not be able to patent your own.


Once you have determined that your invention is the first of its kind, you can prepare your application (described below). The application must be complete, or your materials will be returned to you, and no filing date assigned.


It is strongly recommended that you hire the services and expertise of a patent agent if you want to patent your invention.


A patent agent will ensure that the language for your application is written in a certain format. This will make clear to the patent examiner and to others what your invention is and the claims you place on it..


Once accepted for filing, your application will be assigned a number and filing date. This is no guarantee of a patent. It simply means your application is pending. The application will be laid open for public inspection 18 months after the filing date.


Once you have filed your application, you have five years in which to request examination. You can request it right away, or you can use this time to assess the marketability of your invention before you commit to the rest of the patent process. Depending on how busy the Patent Office is, your examination may take two or three years.


The patent examiner will assess whether your patent application is in the proper format and compare it to other related patents. If the examiner finds that some of your claims are improper, he or she will issue an objection. During the examination period, other people can also file objections to your patent. You will then have a chance to respond to objections by requesting amendments to your claim. The examiner will review the amendments, and either grant your patent or request further amendments.


The Structure of a Patent


The form of a patent has not changed too much over time. Basic information is required to identify the inventor or assignee and the patent connected to the invention. However, as the patent process evolves, more care and awareness of the complexities needed to protect your claim is needed.


Patents are divided into five basic areas: petition, abstract, description, claims and drawings, in that order.

Petition: The petition is your formal request for a patent. It states your name and address, the title of the patent, and information about priority, patent agents and representatives.

Abstract: The abstract is a short summary (150 words or less) of your invention. Abstracts are used primarily for searching patents.

Description: The description starts with an overview of the invention and then gives more detail. It is important to be thorough; you cannot add new information to your patent application once it is filed.

Claims: Claims are the legal bases for your patent protection. Careful wording helps define the limits of your patent rights. Consider the scope, structure and characteristics of the invention when writing the claims.

Drawings: Drawings must be included with your application if the subject matter can be illustrated. Show every feature of your invention that is defined in your claims. If your invention cannot be illustrated, but can be described using photographs, include photographs.


Assignments and Licenses


A patent is personal property and may be sold to others or mortgaged; it may be bequeathed by a will; and it may pass to the heirs of a deceased patentee. The patent law provides for the transfer or sale of a patent, or of an application for patent, by an instrument in writing. Such an instrument is referred to as an assignment and may transfer the entire interest in the patent. The assignee, when the patent is assigned to him or her, becomes the owner of the patent and has the same rights that the original patentee had.


The statute also provides for the assignment of a part interest, that is, a half interest, a fourth interest, etc., in a patent. There may also be a grant that conveys the same character of interest as an assignment but only for a particularly specified part of your country. A mortgage of patent property passes ownership thereof to the mortgagee or lender until the mortgage has been satisfied and a retransfer from the mortgagee back to the mortgagor, the borrower, is made. A conditional assignment also passes ownership of the patent and is regarded as absolute until canceled by the parties or by the decree of a competent court.


An assignment, grant, or conveyance of any patent or application for patent should be acknowledged before a notary public or officer authorized to administer oaths or perform notarial acts. The certificate of such acknowledgment constitutes prima facie evidence of the execution of the assignment, grant, or conveyance.

Replying to [terrabrazil]:

Replying to [terrabrazil]:

Great intro to the world of patents! Though unfortunately the most important part is buried in this little sentence: "Once a patent is issued, the patentee must enforce the patent without aid of the office."

Have you ever patented something and then tried to protect your intellectual property? Most of the times it makes more sense to just toss your idea in the trashcan. It spares you a lot of grieve, especially if you invent something that goes against the interests of the "big" guys" (like the oil industry, etc.). In that case even your life might be in danger.

Good topic