Utility Patent Applications (U.S.)

Kevin Prince Registered Patent Agent Turn off video auto-start for entire site.   Sample Utility Patent   Hard-Copy Order Form

Utility patents protect how your invention works--regardless of what it looks like. As a result, a utility patent (which is what most people mean when they say "patent") typically offers the strongest protection. If you're thinking about licensing your invention, a utility patent is generally "worth more" in your negotiations with a potential licensee. That notwithstanding, utility patents are only as strong as the "claims" at the back of the patent (see the example of a utility patent) and how those claims relate to the prior art. See the discussion below that further details our philosophy about utility patents and their relative strength when compared to design patents or prior art patents. Benefits and Drawbacks of Utility Patents Benefits Drawbacks Strongest protection Expensive (both preparation and filing fees are considerably more expensive than design patents) 20 year duration (from filing date) Requires three maintenance fees at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after issuance. Excellent for protecting how an invention works, regardless of what it looks like Does not protect the ornamental appearance of the invention Less Expensive drawings ($100/sheet vs. $125 with design patents)   All Utility Patent Applications include: Full Specification and Claims Preparation of any sketches or informal drawings Any application paperwork that is required Drawings (add'l $100 per sheet) Two Types of Patent Applications available: "COMBO" Provisional and Non-Provisional: the Provisional is filed at the PTO, and you're officially "Patent Pending," within a week. This is then followed-up with the non-provisional regular utility patent at the standard speed of 5+ weeks. Regular Utility Patent at the standard speed of 5+ weeks. To get started, complete the form below. Alternately, you may fax or mail this hard-copy order form with sketches, patent search results or copies of prior art patents, payment, and any other necessary information. Please note that utility patents typically take three to four weeks to file after payment has been received, but may take longer if there is a waiting list. We will advise you of an anticipated filing date upon receipt of your order. Please tell us about yourself: * First Name:  * Last Name: Company or Firm: * Residential Address:   * City: * State: * Zip: Phone Numbers: * Daytime: Extension: Fax: Cellular: Home: Other: * Email: US Citizen?: Yes No... (if not, indicate citizenship: ) Number of Inventors: (please email us with above info for each add'l inventor) Please tell us about this particular invention: Note: Please email or fax us additional details, sketches, etc. as necessary. For a signed Non-disclosure agreement,visit our NDA page before completing this form. * Invention Title: * General Description of the Invention: What specifically is new about the invention, in comparison to the prior art?: Please list the most relevant prior art patents (if we did not conduct your patent search), and any relevant products in the marketplace: What features do you consider to be the core features of the invention?: What features do you consider to be optional or secondary to the invention?: Sketches, photos, prototypes: will be emailed will be mailed will be mailed with prototype will be faxed sent previously please return all items sent Patent Drawings: Formal drawings are priced at $100/sheet for utility patents. Typically two or three are needed. Please prepare formal drawings I will complete drawings myself Special Circumstances: I plan on filing foreign patents Prior related patents apply Government assistance was used (grant money, etc.) At least one inventor is over the age of 65 or has a terminal disease Do Not Publish at 18 months (no plans to file foreign patents) You are a "small entity" (any small business concern as defined under section 3 of the Small Business Act, and to any independent inventor or nonprofit organization as defined in regulations issued by the Director) * Communication: The secrecy of your invention and the details of your patent are important to us. While we prefer to communicate with you via email for ease and speed, we are also aware that many clients prefer to communicate by other, possibly more secure but more expensive means. As such, please let us know the way you would prefer that we communicate with you, send you drafts of your claims and specification, and so forth. (Note that if you check anything other than 'email' below, you really should print our hard-copy form and either fax or mail it to us, instead of submitting an on-line form like this one!) Email Fax Priority Mail * Total Amount Due: $2,634.00 Regular Utility Application Standard Five+ Week Service: $1,899 for application preparation fee $435 USPTO Filing Fee plus $300 for three sheets of formal drawings (deposit). $3,835.00 COMBO RUSH Provisional & Regular Utility Patent Applications: $2,995 Combo Application Fee. Provisional application filed within one week, then followed-up with regular utility patent at standard speed of five+ weeks. $540 USPTO filing fees ($105 for Provisional and $435 for non-provisional) $300 for three sheets of formal drawings (deposit). I will send a check or money order by mail I will call or fax in my credit card info to 1-800-399-0181 I will use Visa/MC by PayPal Misc. Info: You have the obligation to the US Patent & Trademark Office to fully disclose any non-patented prior art. Also, if you sold or offered the invention for sale more than one year ago, your patent rights may be reduced. Please provide any information that may limit your patent rights or otherwise affect the strength of the application below, or any other pertinent information or concerns that we should know about. How did you find our website?: Important Notice: In order to qualify for patent protection in the U.S., your invention must be new, useful, and non-obvious in light of all other prior art inventions. If it would be obvious to “one skilled in the art” or field of your invention, you may not ultimately receive a patent.  Please be sure you understand the level of novelty of your device before assuming that merely by applying for a patent you will ultimately receive one.  Patent Searches, if done through us or elsewhere, are never 100% complete, so there is always some risk that a patent search will have missed a relevant reference.  Further, a patent application in the U.S. must be filed no later than one year after the invention is first used in public, offered for sale, or described in a printed publication. “File as early as possible” is usually good advice. Unless a U.S. patent is filed before public disclosure, you may be precluded from later filing a foreign patent. Each country has its own patent laws and filing requirements.  You should make us aware of any potential public use or offer for sale of your invention beforehand so we can advise you as to the potential ramifications of public disclosure.  Completion times quoted are estimates only, and unless RUSH service is requested an paid for your application may be delayed by other RUSH jobs or other delays. Please advise us if you are close to a filing or other statutory deadline, as meeting any such deadline remains your responsibility. Merely submitting this form does not form a client/attorney or client/agent relationship. Do you agree to these terms? Yes No   Further Discussion About Utility Patents The claims are the legal portion of the patent, and define the scope of the patent protection. They are often difficult to read, and each claim appears to be a long run-on sentence. It is. Even though a patent may appear to protect a particular product based on the other parts, however, reviewing the claims will let you know what's actually protected. Not all patents are equally strong in their protection. Indeed, many patents are quite weak. For example, if the closest prior art patent claims elements A, B, and C in a device that solves a certain problem, and your idea is comprised only of elements A and B, then you Claims work similarly to how prospectors use to claim real estate for, say, a gold mine. They would "stake a claim" for a particular area of land. Similarly, the claims in a utility patent work the same way. As the inventor, you claim a particular area of technology. When the Patent Examiner reviews your claim, he basically does a title search (in the form of a patent search) to see where your nearest neighbors are if your claim crosses any of their property lines. If not, and the claim (in the form of the entire patent application) is otherwise proper, then you're the "first on the hill" and you'll get a strong patent. However, 99% of the time the Examiner finds neighbors that are closer to your claims than you thought. At this point the Examiner will issue an "Office Action" rejecting your claims, but telling you why so that you can modify your patent application to conform to the boundaries that the Examiner determined were set by your neighbors. Once these boundaries are agreed upon, a patent will issue. However, this process is how patents get "watered down" and weaker than they were as originally filed. The extent of how strong your patent is when it issues will depend on what the Examiner finds when he does his search. Examiners are not limited to just patents, but can take cite foreign patents as well as articles or just about any other published work... even items found on the public Internet.