A patent gives you the exclusive right to make, use or sell a product, device or process for a set period of time. Today utility patents are good for at least 17 years. Any inventor can file a patent application on the behalf of highly skilled and experienced patent attorney. Most of the major Patent Office's provide helpful tips on how to fill out the various forms required and explain the basic format of a patent but that is as far as they are able to help. While most Patent Office staff usually very helpful they are not allowed to advise on the specific content of a patent application, nor are they allowed to draft patent applications on behalf of the public. There, is a position that relies on impeccable neutrality and is a status that strictly observed in all countries.
In order to obtain the grant of a patent, a person, either legal or natural, should file an application at a patent office with jurisdiction to grant a patent in the geographic area over which coverage is required. This will often be a national patent office but could be a regional body, such as the European Patent Office. Once the patent specification complies with the laws of the office concerned, a patent may be granted for the invention described and claimed by the specification. The procedure of "negotiating" or "arguing" with a patent office for the grant of a patent, and interaction with a patent office with regard to a patent after its grant is known as patent prosecution. Patent prosecution is dissimilar from patent litigation which relates to legal proceedings for infringement of a patent after it is granted.
How to File a Patent
- Determine whether your idea warrants patent protection. The trademark and Patent Office (PTO) has an online patent database at www.uspto.gov.
- Make a written patent application consisting of a number of subparts required by the PTO, which usually include a detailed description of the invention's structure and operation; a listing of the attributes that set the invention apart from previous related inventions, a precise description of what aspects of the invention deserve and a signed declaration.
- Create a drawing of the invention that shows all the invention's aspects or parts . You can either submit formal drawings with your application until your patent is approved, at which point you'll be needed to submit detailed drawings of your invention before the patent will issue.
- File the application, drawings, and fee with the assistant commissioner for patents at the PTO.
- Communicate with the patent examiner regarding the extent of your invention and its qualifications for a patent. Usually, this takes more than a year.
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