How does the patenting process generally work?
A. Patent applications are generally drafted by a patent attorney (or patent agent, a non-attorney with a science education licensed to practice at the PTO) and filed by mail with the PTO in Arlington, Virginia. Generally, the patent attorney will need the inventor(s) to sign an Inventor’s Declaration (which states, among other things that the inventor made the invention claimed in the application) and an Assignment (which evidences the inventor’s duty to assign the patent to the inventor’s employer (such as the University)). Patent applications are required to be held confidential by the PTO during the time of their pendency. Usually within a few months, a patent applicant will receive written notice back from the PTO as to whether the application and its claims have been accepted in the form in which they were filed. More often than not, however, the PTO, represented by a Patent Examiner, rejects the application because either certain formalities need to be cleared up, or on the basi
