How to Apply for a Patent

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Legal )



What is a Patent?

If you have an original invention, you need to get a patent. The U.S. Patent Office grants you a patent for exclusive manufacture, marketing or use of your original invention. Thus, a patent is a very powerful tool to protect your invention from unauthorized imitation or use.

Patents have a validity period of twenty years from filing date. A patent is valid only within the country where you applied for and obtained it.

Different Types of Patents

There are also different types of patents depending on the nature of the invention. You get a utility patent for something that involves a process, equipment, manufactured item or improvement of existing items. You obtain a design patent for original designs and a plant patent for asexually reproducing a new plant variety or species.

What is a Patentable Item?

An item is patentable if it is considered new as defined under the patent law, and that there is no other item exactly like it manufactured within the patent-issuing country. Furthermore, the invention must not have been cited in any published document anywhere in the world.

You can get a patent for an item that is considered useful and operative, such as in the case of mechanical inventions.

How to Apply for a Patent

If you are the inventor, you need to apply for a patent personally with the patent office. If someone else was your partner in inventing the product, he must also file as joint inventor. If your partner contributed in terms of financial aid only, then he is not qualified as a joint inventor.

When you apply for a patent, you need to submit a written document which describes the item you invented, and an oath or declaration of its originality. You also need to provide a drawing or blueprint of the invention and to pay fees for filing and testing the product. The documents must be in English, and typed on durable white paper. Patent laws also specify the dimensions of the paper and the formatting of the text you use in your documents.

The effective date of the patent coincides with the filing date, provided that the submitted requirements are complete.


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