Bruzga & Associates

In the U.S., a patent is an intellectual property right granted by the U.S. Patent Office to an inventor for an invention that is new, useful and non-obvious. A patent allows the patent holder to prevent others from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the invention into the United States.

The following three types of patents are available:

ā€¢ A utility patent protects a new or improved device, manufacturing or business method or composition of matter.

ā€¢ A design patent protects ornamental design, or visual appearance, of an article of manufacture

ā€¢ A plant patent protects asexually reproduced plants.

Up to 20 years is the typical duration of a utility patent issued on an application filed after June 8, 1995. For a patent issued prior to June 8, 1995, a typical patent lasts 17 years from the date of issuance.- typically.

A design patent lasts for 14 years from the date of issuance.

Plant patents are valid for 20 years from the date of filing the patent application.

In the U.S., a patent is an intellectual property right granted by the U.S. Patent Office to an inventor for an invention that is new, useful and non-obvious. A patent allows the patent holder to prevent others from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the invention into the United States.

A provisional patent application (PPA) is an interim patent application. A PPA is filed usually for the purpose of obtaining a priority date, which postpones the more substantial cost of filing a regular application for up to one year but which allows an inventor to say their invention is ā€œpatent pending.” After filing a PPA, you have one year to file the regular patent application.

Inventors who are unsure if their invention will be commercially viable often file a provisional patent application (PPA) first. A PPA does not require claims, nor will it be examined by the U.S. Patent Office. However, the need to have an adequate disclosure of the invention often suggests preparing claims anyway.

It often is a big mistake if you want foreign patents. Although in the U.S. you have one year to file a patent application after the invention is offered for sale or is published, your patent rights in many foreign countries may be lost just as soon as the invention becomes published. So, we usually recommend keeping the invention confidential, using confidentiality agreements as necessary, until a patent application has been filed. For instance, once you file a U.S. patent application, you have one year in which to file a foreign or PCT application whose effective filing date will be that of the U.S. application for most countries. So, once you file the U.S. application, then you can publish or sell your invention without fear of loss of foreign patent rights.

A time-tested, trustworthy way to keep records of inventive activity is to maintain a bound patent notebook. Having such records is important to establish priority of invention against subsequent inventions by others, and can also be helpful in prosecuting a patent application, by avoiding certain prior art. Please see our article on patent notebooks.

If you learn of a patent that may likely cover your product, you are under a duty to immediately stop commercializing your product. You should obtain the advice of a competent attorney, with patent litigation experience, to determine if the competitor’s patent might cover your product, and whether the patent is invalid as being anticipated or obvious over the prior art.

If you proceed to sell your product without obtaining an opinion that your company either does not infringe the competitor’s patent or that the patent is invalid over the prior art, your company may be liable for up to triple damages caused to the patent owner. You may also be required to stop selling, or even to destroy, your product, and may have to pay attorney’s fees of the patent owner which can typically amount to over a million dollars.