General Patent Information

What do I need to do to get a patent?

An U.S. patent application must be filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

What happens once you have a patent?

Once you have a patent the next steps are solely upon the inventor, who has a multitude of options avaliable. Two simple examples are an inventor can directly produce and market the invention or sell the idea to a company.

What does a patent let you do?

A patent grants you the intellectual property rights to the invention. You have the rights to exclude others from marking, using, offering for sale or selling your invention in or importing your invention into any country that honors your patent.

How long does it take for a patent to be issued?

The patent process can take anywhere from 1 - 5 years.

Does a U.S. Patent protect my invention in other countries?

No. Each country has it own patent system and legal requirements. However the filing of a U.S. patent application my help in a separate application for a patent in a foreign country.