Patents

PATENTS

Although patents fall into three major categories, utility patents, design patents, and plant patents, people commonly refer to a utility patent as, simply, a "patent."

A utility patent is a set of rights granted to an inventor of a "new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter," for a period of time. 35. U.S.C. § 101. During the term of the patent, the inventor possesses the exclusive right to make, sell, use, offer to sell, or sell the patented invention. The inventor may even bring a lawsuit and be awarded damages against others who infringe on the inventor's patent. In exchange for these potentially lucrative rights, the inventor is required to disclose the invention to the public in a patent application.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution gives the United States Congress the power " [t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." Today, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) administers this congressional power by receiving and examining patent applications, and, in some cases, issuing patents.

In the simplest case, a patent application is drafted that discloses the details of the invention. The patent application also includes claims, a listing of the subject matter sought to be protected by the application. The application is filed with the USPTO, and a period of time passes before the application is examined. During the examination, a Patent Examiner at the USPTO, commonly referred to as an Examiner, attempts to determine whether the claims are patentable under United States patent law.

If the Examiner believes the claims are patentable, the Examiner issues a document called a Notice of Allowance. The Notice of Allowance means that the claims may proceed to become a United States patent. If the Examiner believes the claims are not patentable, the Examiner may reject the claims in another document called an Office Action. The Office Action lists the reasons the Examiner believes the claims are not patentable and provides an opportunity for response. Of course, this situation is simplified for the purposes of demonstration. Many different and additional actions may be taken throughout the patent process that can directly impact the final result of the patent application.

Practicing before the United States Patent and Trademark Office is complex and any misstep may be costly. Patent attorneys representing inventors possess a special USPTO license or registration. This license is different than a patent attorney's license to practice law in a particular state, which means that only attorneys that meet special qualifications may file patent applications on behalf of inventors.

The patent professionals at Yee & Associates, P.C. work on securing patent rights for inventors every single day. We encourage you to contact us to help secure your intellectual property rights.