The USPTO offers patent applications for utility, design, and plant inventions, with different classifications for plant and service inventions. Design patents protect unique ornamental designs, while utility patents protect functional inventions. Provisional patent applications provide benefits but require a non-provisional application within 12 months. International patent applications are available through the PCT, allowing protection in multiple countries.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides patent applications for utility, design, and plant inventions. Ranks applications for plant and service inventions into interim and non-interim applications. It does not use interim and non-interim applications for design inventions. International patent applications are also available. Patents protect inventors by prohibiting others from making, selling, importing, or using a particular invention for a specified period.
Design patent applications are for unique designs of a specific pattern or shape used for ornamental purposes. The designs are primarily decorative, not functional. A drawing could also be the actual object, such as the Statue of Liberty. Usually, the inventor of a design licenses its design to individuals or businesses for placement on art, jewelry, and other objects.
A utility patent protects inventions that perform some kind of function that is beneficial to society. It protects the functioning of a particular invention. Conversely, a design patent protects the unique look of an item. Depending on the subject matter, an inventor may need to file patent applications for both utility and design to fully protect his or her invention.
Patent applications for plant-based inventions are also available. Inventors seek this type of patent when they want to protect a particular type of plant they have developed. For example, a company that develops or invents a unique species of corn that is resistant to various types of diseases can apply for a patent to protect the plant. A company then grants a license to farmers to use the plant’s seeds, if farmers want to plant that particular type of corn.
The USPTO classifies its patent applications for utilities and plant inventions as provisional and non-provisional. When an inventor files a provisional application, he remains obligated to file a non-provisional application within 12 months of filing the provisional application because the USPTO will not grant a patent based on a provisional application alone. Inventors use provisional patent applications because they provide various benefits, including less expensive fees, the opportunity to market test the invention, and providing a filing date for the invention. Inventors who fail to submit a non-provisional application within the 12-month period will lose their right to the patent. After the inventor files the non-provisional application, the USPTO can issue a patent for the invention.
International patent applications allow an inventor to file a single application which will allow him to protect his invention in multiple countries for a certain period. This is possible in countries that have signed the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is responsible for implementing the PCT. This eliminates the need for an inventor to file numerous patent applications in several countries and allows the inventor the opportunity to determine how best to use his invention in several countries. WIPO, however, does not issue a real patent.
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