A patent for an invention is a grant of a property right by the Government to the inventor, acting through the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a utility patent is 20 years from the date the patent is granted, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. Failure to pay the current maintenance fee on time may result in expiration of the patent. The grant confers "the right to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention throughout the United States" and its territories. After the patent has expired anyone may make, use, or sell the invention without permission of the patentee, provided that the matter covered by other unexpired patents is not used. The terms may not be extended except by special act of Congress except for certain pharmaceuticals.

A patent is personal property and may be sold to others or mortgaged; it may be bequeathed by a will, and it may pass to the heirs of deceased patentee.

Patents may be owned jointly by two or more persons as in the case of a patent granted to joint inventors. Any joint owner of a patent, no matter how small the part interest, may make, use, and sell the invention for his or her own profit, without regard to the other owner, and may sell the interest or any part of it, or grant licenses to others, without regard to the other joint owners, unless the joint owners have made a contract governing their relation to each other.

Co-inventors may be named on a patent and all rights may be assigned to the owner in the form or a contract between the co-inventor and the owner.

A patentee who makes or sells patented articles is required to mark the articles with the word "Patent" and the number of the patent. The penalty for failure to mark is that the patentee may not recover damages from an infringer unless the infringer was duly notified of the infringement and continued to infringe after the notice.

Some persons mark articles sold with the terms "Patent Applied For" or "Patent Pending." These phrases have no legal effect. The protection afforded by a patent does not start until the actual grant of the patent.

Since the rights granted by a United States patent extend only throughout the territory of the United States and have no effect in a foreign country, an inventor who wishes patent protection in other countries must apply for a patent in each of the other countries or in regional patent offices. No United States patent can be obtained if the invention was patented abroad before applying in the United States on an application filed more than 12 months before filing in the USA. Six months are allowed in the case of a design patent.

An application for a patent is made to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks and includes:

1). A written document which comprises a specification (description and claims), and an oath or declaration;

2). Drawings;

3). The filing fee.

DRAWINGS

The applicant for a patent will be required by law to furnish a drawing of the invention whenever the nature of the case requires a drawing to understand the invention. This includes practically all inventions except compositions of matter or processes, but a drawing may be useful in the case of many processes.

The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified, and is required by the Office rules to be in a particular form. The Office specifies the size of the sheet on which the drawing is made, the type of paper, the margins, and other details relating to the making of the drawings. Specifications regarding the drawings include Character of lines, Hatching and Shading, Scale, Reference Characters, Symbols and Legends, Views and Arrangement of views.

The requirements relating to drawings are strictly enforced. Applicants are advised to employ competent draftsmen to make their drawings.

MODELS

Models are not required in most patent applications since the description of the invention in the specification and the drawings must be sufficiently full and complete and capable of being understood to disclose the invention without the aid of a model. A model will not be admitted unless specifically requested by the examiner.

DESIGN PATENTS

The patent law provides for the granting of design patents to any person who has invented any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. The design patent protects only the appearance of an article, and not its structure or utilitarian features. A design Patent has a term of 14 years, and no fees are necessary to maintain a design patent in force. The drawings of the design patent conform to the same rules as other drawings, but no reference characters are required. The specification of a design application is short. Only one claim is permitted, following a set form.

PROVISIONAL APPLICATION

A provisional patent is a completely new type of application designed to secure a priority date without counting against the new patent term of 20 years from the filing date of application.

Provisional applications are intended to be simple and inexpensive. No claims are needed, no oath or declaration is needed. A provisional application, however, will never issue as a patent and it will automatically go abandoned twelve months after it is filed.

The basic requirements of a provisional application:

1), The name of the inventor;

2). A specification;

3). Drawings;

4). Filing Fee.

COPYRIGHTS

A copyright protects the writings of an author against copying. Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works are included within the protection of the copyright law.

TRADEMARKS

A trademark relates to any word, name, symbol or device, which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source or origin of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others.

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