1. What is a patent and who can apply for it?

Answer: A patent is a grant from the U.S. government to an inventor that gives the inventor the exclusive right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention ‘claimed’ in the issued patent. The inventor can enforce this right by filing a patent infringement lawsuit in federal court. An issued patent is considered personal property and can be sold or licensed to others. There are three types of patents – utility, design, and plant.

2. What are the requirements for a patent?

Answer: When you file a patent application, a patent specialist called an examiner hired by the U.S.P.T.O. reviews the application and determines whether the invention meets the requirements set forth by the patent laws and regulations. The two most important requirements is tht the invention claimed in the patent must be novel and non-obvious.

3. How long do patents last?

Answer: Utility and plant patents expire 20 yrs from the date of filing. Design patents expire 14 yrs from the date of issuance.

4. What are the filing deadlines for a patent?

Answer: In the U.S., you must file your patent application within one year after you first commercialize or publish the invention. Most foreign countries do NOT have this rule and require that you file a patent application before you commercialize or publish the invention. To avoid this rule, most individuals file a U.S. utility or provisional patent application before they commercialize or publish the invention. To obtain the benefit of a provisional patent application filing date, you must convert the provisional patent application into a utility patent application within one year of the provisional patent application filing date.

5. What are the patent fees?

Answers: Fees are fixed by the U.S.P.T.O. and are changed annually.

6. Can patents be renewed?

Answer: No. Utility patents must be maintained every 4 yrs. but can not be renewed or extended beyond the original lives.

7. After a patent is granted, can it be challenged?

Answer: Yes. An opposing party can request a Re-examination of the patent with the U.S.P.T.O. or file a lawsuit in a federal court requesting that the claims in the patent be interpreted or invalidated.

8. What is a trademark?

Answer: A trademark is a word, symbol, icon, sound or smell closely associated or used with a product or service that a seller uses to identify and distinguish their products or service in the marketplace.

9. How do you acquire trademark rights?

Answer: Select a mark that is not generic or descriptive, not already in use by another, use the mark in interstate commerce, and then file an Actual Use federal trademark application. . If you can’t begin using the mark immediately, then file an Intent-to-Use federal trademark application and then begin using the mark in interstate commerce later. You must USE the mark properly.

10. What is a copyright?

Answer: Copyright right from the U.S. government to an individual or company the exclusive right to copy an original work of art. Once granted, the author has the legal right to exclude others from copying the work of art. The copyright springs into existence as soon as the work of art is created in tangible form and lasts for the life of the author plus 70 yrs. (If a work for hire, then 95 yrs or 120 yrs. depending on whether the work of art has been published.).

11. How do you obtain a copyright?

Answer: Copyrights automatically spring to life as soon as they are created in a tangible form. No registration is required. (There are benefits for registering the copyright with the Copyright Office).

12. How are patents and copyrights related?

Answer: Patent require that the invention be novel and non-obvious and that a patent application be timely submitted. Copyrights only require that the work of art be original and registration is not required. Design patents offer similar protect as copyrights only with more teeth for shorter period (14 yrs. vs. life of author plus 70 yrs.).

13. How are trademarks and copyrights related?

Answer: Trademarks are words, symbols, sounds, smells, etc. used to help identify and distinguish a product in the marketplace while copyrights protect against unauthorized copying of an original work of art. How a word or symbol is used on a product or service dictates whether it is a trademark or a copyright.

14. What is a trade secret?

Answer: A Trade secret is any information, design, device, composition, process, technique, or formula that is secret that affords a person or business an advantage in the marketplace. It is the ‘edge’ that businesses use when competing with other businesses.

15. How are patents and trade secrets related?

Answer: An invention that is novel and non-obvious can be patented or treated as a trade secret if it is unlikely to be reversed engineered or independently invented. If the invention is initially treated as a trade secret, and a patent application is found to be more desirable, the patent application must be found within 1 yr. of commercialization or publication.