Patents offered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) assist in protecting an invention from the fear or getting copied or duplicated. Patents are usually categorized under three different categories depending upon the type of invention. These three categories are utility, design and plant patent. A utility patent protects useful inventions such as new machines, and composition of matter from competition during their development and for several years thereafter. In order to file a utility patent, it is required for the inventors to complete a utility patent application along with the published guidelines that have been mentioned in the USPTO website. However, while filing a utility patent, at times an applicant gets stuck with certain legal complications. Therefore, whenever planning for patent registration, it is essential to hire a patent attorney that carries relevant experience in the desired field and assist you with all your patent related queries. Following these simple steps can help you in filing your patents in a better manner.
- Initially, you need to write a detailed claim, which describes the invention and also include detailed drawing about the invention. Depending upon the complexity of the invention, there can approximately be twenty claims in an application to cover all the unique qualities of the invention.
- During the process of patent registration, it is essential to follow all the stringent guidelines that are mentioned in the USPTO website and special attention should be paid on some of the minor details such as the type of ink to be used for filing the application, color, conditions and also the size of the paper. Moreover, there is also a need to include utility patent application transmittal form, which serves as a way to list all the documents that are included in patent filing package.
- The USPTO also demands the inventor to commit to an oath that the invention created is not duplicated or copied from some resource. Moreover, the oath that you are submitting should also be notarized.
- Another important document that should be submitted is an application data sheet, which is available as a download from the US Patent Office website. Once the patent has been filed, it requires for the applicant to wait for fourteen months duration before receiving a ruling on your utility patent filing.
- The patent attorney that you hire to assist you during patent registration, files all the paperwork for you. However, it should be ensured that you hire an experienced and skilled patent attorney.