Types of Patents





The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issues several 

different types of patent documents offering different kinds 

of protection and covering different types of subject matter.



A recently issued PTO patent document is one of six types,

generally described below. See U.S. Code Title 35 - Patents, for

a full description of patents and patent laws.



    *     Utility Patent-  Issued for the invention of a new and

          useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of

          matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof, it

          generally permits its owner to exclude others from

          making, using, or selling the invention for a period of

          up to twenty years from the date of patent application

          filing ++, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.

          Approximately 90% of the patent documents issued by the

          PTO in recent years have been utility patents, also

          referred to as "patents for invention."



    *     Design Patent-  Issued for a new, original, and

          ornamental design for an article of manufacture, it

          permits its owner to exclude others from making, using,

          or selling the design for a period of fourteen years

          from the date of patent grant.  Design patents are not

          subject to the payment of maintenance fees.



    *     Plant Patent-  Issued for a new and distinct, invented

          or discovered asexually reproduced plant including

          cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found

          seedlings, other than a tuber propagated plant or a

          plant found in an uncultivated state, it permits its

          owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling

          the plant for a period of up to twenty years from the

          date of patent application filing ++.  Plant patents

          are not subject to the payment of maintenance fees.



    *     Reissue Patent-  Issued to correct an error in an

          already issued utility, design, or plant patent, it

          does not affect the period of protection offered by the

          original patent.



    *     Defensive Publication (DEF)-  Issued instead of a

          regular utility, design, or plant patent, it offers

          limited protection, defensive in nature, to prevent

          others from patenting an invention, design, or plant.

          The Defensive Publication was replaced by the Statutory

          Invention Registration in 1985-86.



    *     Statutory Invention Registration (SIR)-  This document

          replaced the Defensive Publication in 1985-86 and

          offers similar protection.



++   Although, the length of utility and plant patent protection

(patent term) was previously seventeen years from the date of

patent grant, utility and plant patents filed after June 8, 1995

now have a patent term of up to twenty years from the date of

filing of the earliest related patent application. Utility and

plant patents which were applied for prior to June 8, 1995, and

which were or will be in force after June 8, 1995, now have a

patent term of seventeen years from the date of patent grant or

twenty years from the date of filing of the earliest related

patent application, whichever is longer.  Utility patents are

subject to the payment of periodic maintenance fees to keep the

patent in force. Patent terms can be extended under some specific

circumstances.  See the U.S. Code Title 35 - Patents for a full

description of patent laws.



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Questions regarding this web page should be directed to:

(address as of 6/2000)

             U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

             Information Products Division

             Technology Assessment and Forecast Branch

             PK3-Suite 441

             Washington, DC  20231



             tel (703) 306-2600

             FAX (703) 306-2737



_______________________________________________________________________________________

SOURCE:   U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

          Technology Assessment and Forecast data base    (1 June 2000)



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