How Do You Patent An Idea Or Product?
Patents are used to protect inventors from others duplicating and selling their protected ideas or products. According to United States law, any person who “invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent.” Filing for patents is done through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Design patents are valid for 14 years from the patent’s approval, and utility and plant patents are generally valid for 20 years from the patent application date. Search the USPTO’s databases of issued patents and patent applications for your proposed invention to ensure that it has not previously been patented. Complete the Provisional Application for Patent Cover Sheet (see Resources). Write a description of the invention that satisfies requirements of the United States Code Title 35, Section 112 (see Resources). If necessary, create drawings needed to understand the invention that satisfy t
