A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions.

The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the invention.

The patent law specifies the subject matter for which a patent may be obtained and conditions for patentability. The law establishes the USPTO to administer the law relating to the granting of patents and contains various other provisions relating to patents.

The American Inventors Protection Act was enacted November 29, 1999, as Public Law 106-113. To read the full text of the act, visit the USPTO website at www.uspto.gov, or request a copy of the act by calling the USPTO Information Line at 1-800-USPTO- 9199 (1-800-878-7691) or 703-308-4357.

For an invention to be patentable, it must be new as defined in the patent law, which provides that an invention cannot be patented if: “(a)the invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent,” or “(b)the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country more than one year prior to the application for patent in the United States.”

If your invention has been described in a printed publication anywhere, has been posted on the Internet, or has been in public use or on sale in this country more than one year before the date your patent applications is filed in this country, a patent cannot be obtained. In this instance, it is immaterial when the invention was made or whether the printed publication or public use was by you or by someone else. If you describe the invention in a printed publication, use the invention publicly, or place it on sale, you must apply for a patent before one year has gone by; otherwise, you lose any right to a patent.

Even if the subject matter sought to be patented is not exactly shown by the prior art and involves one or more differences over the most nearly similar thing already known, a patent may still be refused if the differences would have been obvious. The subject matter sought to be patented must be sufficiently different from what has been used or described before that it may be said to be obscured to a person having ordinary skill in the area of technology related to the invention. For example, the substitution of one material for another, e.g., ABS (a type of plastic) for tin, or changes in size, are typically not patentable.

The work of examining applications for patents is divided among a number of examining groups, each group having jurisdiction over assigned fields of technology. Each group is headed by a group director and staffed by examiners. The examiners review applications and determine whether patents can be granted. Appeals can be made to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences from decisions refusing to grant a patent, and a review by the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks may be requested by petition. The examiners also identify applications that claim the same invention and start proceedings, known as interferences, to determine who is the first inventor.

In addition to the examining groups, other offices perform various services: