Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof…”35 U.S.C. § 101.
A brief overview of some key patent points:
A patent is a form of intellectual property, which rewards persons whom invent a new, useful and unobvious (unobvious to one of person of ordinary skill in the art): process or method, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter. In return for completely disclosing the invention in the form a patent a legal monopoly on the invention is granted to the inventor(s) for a fixed period of time. The period of time for which the legal monopoly is granted for a utility patent is 20 years from it’s filing date, however, the legal rights do not begin until the patent issues. The period of time for a design patent is 14 years from the issue date. The legal monopoly grants the right for the inventor(s) to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the invention in the United States. Once a patent application is prepared and filed and prior to issuance of a patent, the invention can be marked "patent pending" or "patent applied for", which while having no legal significance and grants the inventor(s) no legal rights tends to discourage others from copying the invention since a patent might issue on the invention granting the legal monopoly to the inventor(s). There are several types of patents, two major groups are design patents and utility patents. In short a design patent protects the aesthetics or the appearance of the invention. The utility patents protect the function of the invention. Utility patents are desirable over design patents where possible, though both design and utility patents can protect an invention. Utility patents require the payment of maintenance fees 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years following issuance to maintain the patent in force whereas design patents require none to maintain the patent in force.
The inventor(s) may also seek patent protection in foreign countries. Many countries are members of the International Treaty, the Paris Convention. This allow inventor(s) to claim priority based on the filing date of the first filed patent application in a member country, provided a patent application is filed in the member country within 1 year of such first filed patent application (within 6 months fore design patent applications). The United States is a member of the International Convention so as to grant such priority based on a foreign patent application. You may file an application through the U.S. receiving office for the patent cooperation treaty.
The inventor(s) should take great care to maintain their invention secret until the advice of a registered patent attorney or patent agent is sought. Disclosure of the invention may result in loss of patent rights. Inventor(s) must be aware that activities such as using or offering the invention for sale may create loss of patent rights. The inventor(s) must file a United States Patent Application within 1 year (if patent protection is desired in the United States) of the earlier of making an offer to sell the invention (even if the offer is not accepted and sometimes even when the invention is not yet manufactured or otherwise available, just ready for patenting), use in public or putting the invention in a printed publication which is circulated (e.g. a sales brochure, catalog, or a web site). This is know as a "statutory bar" and if the year period expires without filing the United States Patent Application, the inventor(s) are not permitted to file a patent application in the United States. Foreign priority or the priority of a provisional patent application can be used to predate the expiration of the 1 year period.
Foreign priority or the priority of a provisional patent application (discussed below) can be used to predate the expiration of the 1 year period. Many countries are members of the International Treaty, also called the Paris Convention, and allow inventor(s) to claim priority based on the filing date of the first filed patent application in a member country, provided a patent application is filed in the member country within 1 year of such first filed patent application (within 6 months fore design patent applications). A provisional patent application can be filed in the United States which provides a disclosure of the invention, but which does not have the formal requirements of a utility or design patent application and is not examined by the USPTO. Priority can be claimed for a utility patent application (but not a design patent application) and foreign patent applications in countries which are members of the international convention if filed within 1 year of the filing date of the provisional patent application.
