Chase Law Firm, L.C. - Patent Issues

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What Is A Patent?

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What Is A Patent?

In exchange for an inventor fully disclosing an invention to the public, a patent grants to the inventor the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or offering to sell the invention for a limited time. Patent applications are made to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for domestic protection and Patent Cooperation Treaty member countries for international protection. There are three types of patents:

Utility
Design
Plant

A utility patent gives the inventor a monopoly for 20 years in an invention from the date of application. A utility patent is granted for an invention that is novel, non-obvious, and useful. A design patent gives its owner a 14-year monopoly from the date of issue, in the ornamental design of an article of manufacture. A plant patent protects discovery or invention of a distinct and new variety of plant for 20 years from the date of patent application. The plant must be novel, distinct, non-obvious, and have been asexually reproduced.

The typical steps taken to obtain a patent are as follows:

Initial disclosure.
Patentability search.
Preparation and filing of the patent application with the PTO.
Prosecution of the application, including arguments in favor of patentability and possible amendment of the patent claims through correspondence with the PTO.
Patent issues.
Periodic maintenance fees.

Infringement occurs when someone other than the patent owner makes, uses, sells or offers for sale the patent owner's invention as recited in the claims of the patent without the patent owner's authorization. The claims of a patent define the scope of the invention and are the numbered paragraphs found at the end of the written description of the invention.

To see the front page of several patents obtained by Chase Law Firm, L.C., refer to the Sample Patents section.

For More Information Contact:
Chase Law Firm, L.C.
4400 College Blvd. Suite 130
Overland Park, KS 66211
(913) 339-9666
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