how to apply for a patent
before making a formal application an applicant should research the patent and trademark office s database to see if another person or institution has claimed a patent for a similar invention the invention must be different from or an improvement upon a previous design to be considered for a patent applicants need to take care to maintain accurate records of the design process and the steps taken to create the invention enforcing the patent is up to the person or entity that applied for the patent to apply for a patent in the united states the applicant submits specific documents and pays associated fees written documentation includes drawings descriptions and claims of the item to be patented a formal oath or declaration confirming the authenticity of the invention or improvement of an existing invention must be signed and submitted by the inventor after fee payment the application is reviewed and either approved or denied 7patents protect the intellectual property of companies and help ensure their profitability but patents also serve as marketing for a company s innovation patent statisticsthe uspto receives more than 500 000 patent applications per year with just over 300 000 of them granted 2 the agency had over 14 000 employees in 2023 of whom approximately 60 of them were patent examiners while the remaining worked in the legal and technical areas 8in june of 2018 the uspto issued its 10 millionth patent 9 many patents issued go to companies in the technology industry where apple was granted 2 285 in 2022 microsoft and google were also granted patents however ibm typically receives more than any company in the u s ibm was granted over 8 000 patents in 2021 alone 10examples of patentsone of the most notable patents was for the personal computer filed in 1980 by steve jobs and three other employees of apple inc 11king c gillette patented the razor in 1904 it was dubbed a safety razor 12 garrett morgan was granted a patent for the traffic light in 1923 the patent for the television was issued in 1930 to philo taylor farnsworth for the first television system 1314at age 21 farnsworth had created the first electric television image and went on to invent an early model of the electronic microscope 15patents vs trademarks vs copyrightspatents are legal rights issued to inventors to protect their inventions for a certain time usually 20 years 3 they exclude others from reproducing using or profiting from it without the expressed permission of the patent owner the granting authority issues a patent in exchange for permission to publish details about the invention such as how it s made and what it s used for trademarks are legal protections on words phrases designs or marks that identify a specific product or service trademarks are intellectual property that contribute to the image and reputation of the product or service to which it belongs and to the company to which it belongs beyond symbolism a trademark can be incredibly valuable to a company prompting some companies to include them in their valuation trademarks are protected forever as long as it s in use and the holder can defend it examples of trademarks include the golden arch for mcdonald s the nike swoosh and apple s apple 16copyrights are legal protections on creative works of the mind or according to the united states patent and trademark office original works of authorship they include visual art literary works other writings choreography and software copyrights prevent others from reproducing the work without the express permission of the copyright owner like other intellectual property copyrights are granted for a specific time allowing the holder to benefit from its creation copyrights are granted for the maximum period of 70 years from the death of the author for works created on or after jan 1 1978 exceptions apply to works for hire and anonymous works 17copyrights for works for hire or anonymous works are granted for 95 years from their publication or 120 years from creation which occurs first 17patent faqsa patent is a legal right to an invention given to a person or entity without interference from others who wish to replicate use or sell it patents are granted by governing authorities and have a time limit usually 20 years examples of historic patented inventions include common products that we use daily including the telephone dishwasher and lightbulb patents protected until 2033 include boeing s water harvesting system disney s method for reproducing human actions with robots and google s medical response drone 181920the three types of patents are utility patents design patents and plant patents utility patents are issued for inventions that are novel and useful design patents protect the design or image of a product plant patents are issued to applicants for plants that can reproduce patent costs vary according to the type of patent applied for and are based on several other factors such as the type of applicant provisional or nonprovisional status and associated fees search fees examination fees post allowance fees the cost of a patent agent or attorney and more if using the services of an attorney you can expect costs to range from approximately 5 000 to more than 45 000 21utility and plant patents last for 20 years from the date of filing while design patents last for 15 years if filed on or after may 13 2015 or 14 years if filed before may 13 2015 22the bottom linepatents are legal rights granted to inventors for their creations government divisions such as the united states patent and trademark office issue patents and other intellectual property rights to inventors authors and other creators patent rights give exclusive rights to use replicate or sell the protected invention without interference from others who wish to do the same in exchange the issuing authority is granted the right to publish the details of the invention patents are granted for a limited time such as 20 years from the date of filing for plant and utility patents and 14 or 15 years for design patents patents issued in the united states only offer protection within the u s to extend protection in other nations the applicant must apply with the governing authority of that nation 23