Patents and Patent rights

What is a Patent?
A patent is a right granted by a government to an inventor. The patent gives the inventor the right to prevent others from making, using, offering for sale or selling an invention in a particular country. A patent also allows the inventor to prevent the importation of the invention from other countries. The inventor has this right for a specific period of time, but in return must disclose information about the invention to the public. The period of time the patent is granted for is known as the patent term. A United States patent only protects the rights of an inventor within the United States. The inventor must file applications in other individual countries in order to obtain protection for their invention on an international scale.

What can be Patented?
An inventor may patent any new or improved inventions in the following fields:

Machines
Manufactured articles
Processes
Compositions of matter
Methods

What cannot be Patented?

Ideas
Naturally occurring laws or phenomena
Non-useful inventions such as perpetual motion machines
Offensive articles

Criteria for Patentability
To be patentable an invention must:

Be novel – i.e. new and inventive
Be non-obvious – People who work in the related field must not be able to automatically come up with your invention to solve a particular problem relevant to that industry.
A patent application for an invention must be filed within one year of the invention being publicly used, offered for sale, or sold in the U.S.

Types of Patents
Utility – A utility patent is granted for new and useful processes, machines, manufactured articles or compositions of matter or improvements in the same. In the United States, the term for utility patents begins on the date the patent is issued and ends 20 years from the filing date of the application.

There are two types of utility patent applications can be filed, namely, provisional and non-provisional applications. After an application of either type is filed at the Patent Office the product in question can be marked “Patent Pending”.

Provisional Applications

Provisional applications may be filed without claims specifying the exact nature of the invention. These applications are not examined by the Patent Office.
Provisional applications establish a filing date and are cheaper to file than non-provisional applications.
Provisional applications do not become patents. They are automatically abandoned one year after their filing date. In order to obtain the benefit of this filing date the inventor must file a non-provisional application claiming priority from the provisional application must be filed before the provisional application becomes abandoned.
It is not necessary to file a provisional before filing a non-provisional application.

Non-Provisional Applications

Non-provisional applications include claims that specify the exact invention for which a patent is being sought. A non-provisional application is examined by the Patent Office and can become a patent should it meet all the required criteria.
Non-provisional applications establish a filing date that can be relied on to claim priority in foreign applications for that invention.

Design – Design patents are granted for new, original and ornamental designs for manufactured articles. The term of a design patent is 14 years from the date of grant in the U.S.

Design Applications – Design patents are granted for new, original and ornamental designs for manufactured articles, i.e., they protect the external appearance of an article. The term of a U.S. design patent is 14 years from the date of issue.

Plant – A plant patent is granted for inventions or discoveries and asexual reproduction of plants (that is, vegetation). In the United States, the term of plant patents begins on the date of grant and ends 20 years from the filing date of the application.

Plant Applications – A plant patent is granted for inventions or discoveries and asexual reproduction of plants i.e., flowers, trees, crops, etc. In the United States, the term of plant patents begins on the date of issue and ends 20 years from the filing date of the application.

What steps must be taken to obtain a patent?

A search of the Patent Office records should preferably be made by a qualified searcher to determine if the invention has been previously disclosed or patented.
An application clearly explaining and claiming the invention must be prepared and filed at the Patent and Trademark Office.
After a period of several months to a year, the application will be examined by a Patent Office Examiner. The Examiner will search the Patent Office records and then, depending on their findings, may present arguments against the grant of the patent. These arguments must be responded to and the Examiner’s objections overcome before a patent may be granted. The period of objection by the Examiner and response by the Applicant may take a year or two to be completed.
If the patent is allowed, an issue fee must be paid and the Official Letters Patent will then be forwarded to the owner of the patent.
Maintenance fees must be paid 3.5, 7.5, and 11 years after issue to keep the patent in force. If maintenance fees are not paid, the patent automatically expires.

Why file for patent protection?
If you are in the business and if you have come up with a novel, non-obvious invention that could revolutionize your industry, the last thing you want to do is give that information to your competitors. What if your competitors could not use your information for the next 20 years unless they paid you for the privilege? What if they could not manufacture, sell or import products that would compete with your invention? This is what a patent offers to your company!