Stake Your Claim with a Utility Patent

A patent is a grant of property rights by the U.S Government through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A patent grant excludes others from making, using, or selling the invention in the United States. The right conferred by the patent grant extends throughout the United States. However, a patent cannot be obtained on a mere idea or suggestion, but rather on the tangible manifestation of those ideas.

It is imperative for an inventor to understand that a patent cannot be granted if the invention was sold or publicly known anywhere in the world for more than one year, prior to filing for a patent. This is often referred to as the 1-Year-Rule. A patent also cannot be obtained on a mere idea or suggestion, but rather on the tangible manifestation of those ideas.

Patent applications are examined for both technical and legal merit. Prior to filing a patent application, a search of existing patents should be conducted.

The following list comprises the most common patents inventors file for: Provisional Application for a Patent (usually incorrectly referred to as a Provisional Patent), Utility Patent, Design Patent, and to a far lesser degree a Plant Patent.

First, a Provisional Application for a Patent is only a one-year filing which holds limited power, and can be utilized for certain cases. This filing is most often abused and misunderstood. The provisional patent application will be destroyed after one year unless the inventor takes precise steps to convert to a Utility Patent. Filing for a Provisional Patent may appear straightforward, but special care to maintain the priority rights as well as various other patent considerations should be strategized. More details regarding Provisional Patents below.

Second, a Utility Patent, which is the most common form of patent protection, protects the actual function of an invention. When an inventor receives a Utility Patent, they are granted a twenty-year term for a new, useful and non-obvious process, machine, composition of matter, article of manufacture, business method, or an eligible improvement thereof.

Third, a Design Patent protects the overall appearance, or decorative nature of the invention. The patent can be of value in protecting the aesthetics of new industrial designs, if used properly. A Design Patent is granted a fourteen-year protection for any new, original, and visible decorative design of an invention.

Lastly, a Plant Patent is a twenty-year grant for asexually reproduced assortments of distinct new plants, hybrids, and seedlings other than tuber-propagated or existing in an uncultivated state.

There is actually no such thing as a Provisional Patent. There is a Provisional Application for a Patent that an inventor can file that is never examined and will be abandoned after 1-year unless it is converted into a Utility Patent. Provisional Patent Applications may be recommended for certain inventors who want to perform market testing, to raise capital while finishing their invention, or to gather technical data. Conversely, if not filed correctly, inventors can easily be misled into believing that these are cost effective patents. If the product is being marketed during this 1-year timeframe, the inventor will lose all of the time and money it took to file the patent as well as any exclusive rights they had to their invention. Inventors should tread carefully when they are offered overhyped, inexpensive Provisional Patents online. In reality, Provisional Patent Applications will often cost far more in the long run. Remember… You always get what you pay for.

Additionally, to obtain patent rights when converting to a Utility Patent, the Provisional Patent Application must be sufficiently to take advantage of the early filing date. Essentially, somebody who is skilled in the field of your invention must be able to make your invention simply by reading your patent application. You can not simply make a claim that you can not substantiate, such as filing a provisional patent on a time machine, flying car, or a perpetual motion machine without supporting documentation on how these are made. Because many inventors are not completely aware of these requirements, many of these provisional applications are abandoned after 1 year wasting valuable time, money and energy.