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General Information Concerning Patents
Contents
Functions of the Patent and Trademark Office
Purpose of this booklet
What is a patent?
Patent laws
What can be patented
Novelty and other conditions for obtaining a patent
The United States Patent and Trademark Office
Publications of the Patent and Trademark Office
General information and correspondence
Library, search room searches
Attorneys and agents
Disclosure Document
Who may apply for a patent
Application for patent
Oath or declaration, signature
Filing Fees
Specification (description and claims)
Drawing
Models, exhibits, specimens
Examination of applications and proceedings in the Patent and
Trademark Office
Amendments to application
Time for response and abandonment
Appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences and to
the courts
Interferences
Allowances and issue of patent
Nature of patent and patent rights
Maintenance Fees
Correction of patents
Assignments and licenses
Infringement of patents
Patent marking and "patent pending"
Design patents
Plant patents
Treaties and foreign patents
Foreign applicants for United States patents
Fees and payment
Answers to questions frequently asked
FUNCTIONS OF THE PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
The Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
The role of the Patent and Trademark Office is to provide
patent protection for inventions and to register trademarks. It
serves the interest of inventors and businesses with respect to
their inventions and corporate, product, and service
identifications. It also advises and assists the bureaus and
offices of the Department of Commerce and other agencies of the
Government in matters involving "intellectual property" such as
patents, trademarks and semiconductor mask works. Through the
preservation, classification, and dissemination of patent
information, the Office aids and encourages innovation and the
scientific and technical advancement of the Nation.
In discharging its duties, the Patent and Trademark Office
examines applications and grants patents on inventions when
applicants are entitled to them; it publishes and disseminates
patent information, records assignments of patents, maintains
search files of U.S. and foreign patents and a search room for
public use in examining issued patents and records. It supplies
copies of patents and official records to the public. Similar
functions are performed relating to trademarks.
PURPOSE OF THIS BOOKLET
The purpose of this booklet is to give the reader some
general information about patents and the operations of the
Patent and Trademark Office. (A similar booklet is available on
the subject of trademarks.) It attempts to answer many of the
questions commonly asked of the Patent and Trademark Office but
is not intended to be a comprehensive textbook on patent law or
a guide for the patent lawyer. Consequently, many details are
omitted and complications have been avoided as much as
possible. It is hoped that this pamphlet will be useful to
inventors and prospective applicants for patents, to students,
and to others who may be interested in patents by giving them a
brief general introduction to the subject.
Because of the large amount of mail received by the Patent
and Trademark Office, a copy of this pamphlet, with particular
sections marked when appropriate, may be used by the Patent and
Trademark Office to reply to inquiries and is intended as a
courtesy reply.
Additional information may be obtained from the
publications listed on pages 6 and 7. The Patent and Trademark
Office does not publish any textbooks on patent law, but a
number of such works for the specialist and for the general
reader have been published by private concerns.
WHAT IS A PATENT?
A patent for an invention is a grant of a property right
by the Government to the inventor (or his heirs or assigns),
acting through the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of the
patent is 17 years from the date the patent is granted, subject
to the payment of maintenance fees.
The right conferred by the patent grant extends throughout
the United States and its territories and possessions.
The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the
language of the statute and of the grant itself, "the right to
exclude others from making, using, or selling" the invention.
What is granted is not the right to make, use, or sell, but the
right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the
invention.
Most of the statements in the preceding paragraphs will be
explained in greater detail in later sections.
Some persons occasionally confuse patents,
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