This guide to filing a utility patent application for a non-provisional utility patent is presented in sequential order.

Nonprovisional Utility Patent Application Requirements

A nonprovisional utility patent application must include a specification, including a claim or claims; drawings, when necessary; an oath or declaration; and the prescribed filing fee.

Utility - Patent Application Transmittal Form And Appropriate Fee

A transmittal letter should be filed with every utility patent application to instruct the USPTO as to what actual types of papers are being filed and the amount and type of filing fees are dependent upon the number and type of claims presented.

Patent Application Data Sheet

The utility patent application data sheet is a sheet(s), that may be voluntarily submitted in either provisional or nonprovisional patent applications, which contains bibliographic data, arranged in a format specified by the USPTO.

Specification

The specification is a written description of the invention and of the manner and process of making and using the same invention. The specification must be in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which the invention pertains to make and use the invention.

US Patent numbers were issued since 1836.  The very first issued was simply the number 1. In some European countries particularly in England and Italy, patents have been granted since the 1600s. The United States began granting patents in 1790.

The first Patent Act came out and was signed into effect by George Washington on April 10, 1790. Three and a half months later, on July 31, 1790, the first U.S. patent for a Method of Making Pot Ash Useful in Soap Production was issued to Samuel Hopkins of Philadelphia.

But it was only in 1836 that US patent numbers appear. Obviously, US Patent Number 1 was not issued to the very first invention.  The first US patent numbers was issued to Senator John Ruggles as the inventor of a locomotive steam engine. By 1871, over 100,000 US Patent numbers had been issued.

The US Patent Full Text Database includes all US patent numbers issued since 1790. The database is structured in two segments, 1976-present and 1790-1975, that must be searched separately.

Patent from January 1976-present, including all bibliographic data: inventor’s name, patent’s title, assignee’s name, abstract, full description of the invention and the claims.

US patent number search refers to doing a typical patent search but by using only the patent number assigned to the invention. US patent number search is best done by doing a search on International Application Number.

If it is a foreign patent number you may be able to locate it at the International patent site like the European Patent Office. Unfortunately, U.S. patents prior to 1976 cannot be searched other than by patent number or current classification.

There are several different ways of doing US patent number search on the web. Indexes for the patents were published in the Patent Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) but are not presently available on the USPTO site for years prior to 1976. Patents were indexed yearly by Patentee, Subject, and Patent Holder.

With the patent numbers in hand you can go to the USPTO web site, enter the number and view and download the patents.  Suppose the date is 11-12-04. Patents are issued on each Tuesday of the month, and you will not find that date listed for 1904.

An inventor can start his or her own Patent Search by accessing the US patent information database at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html.  The U.S.P.T.O. US patent information database may be the most popular means of search that can be used by a layperson.

The US patent information database only contains “keyword” searchable patent data from 1975 forward. A US patent information database, publications and journals is also an important step to assure the patentability of the invention.

Inventors can make a search of patents already granted in text books, journals and other publications to be sure that someone else has not already invented their idea.

They may hire someone to do it for them or may do the search on the US patent information at the Public Search Room of the US Patents and Trademark Office in Arlington, Virginia, on the PTO web page on the Internet, or at one of the US Patents and Trademark Depository Libraries across the country.

US patent information says that patent can be obtained on “inventions”. Inventions include any new and useful machine, process, article of manufacture, composition of matter (such as a new chemical composition), and improvements on any of these things.

A Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) is a US Patent library designated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to receive and house copies of U.S. patents and patent and trademark materials, to make them freely available to the public, and to actively disseminate patent and trademark information.

To be designated, a US Patent Library must meet the specific requirements and promise to fulfill the obligations outlined in the information brochure entitled Notes on Becoming a Patent and Trademark Depository Library.

US Patent Library Program began in 1871 when federal statute (35 USC 12) first provided for the distribution of printed patents to libraries for use by the public.

During the Program’s early years twenty-two US Patent Libraries mostly public and all but several located east of the Mississippi River, elected to participate.

The premise behind US Patent Library is that dissemination of patents to the public has long been one of the primary missions of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent system provides mutual benefit to both the inventor and the country.

New inventions lead to new technologies, create new jobs, and improve our quality of life. And US Patent Library helps facilitate the application of these inventions.

US Patent application simply means a request filed before a patent office in which an applicant applies for a patent for an invention.  The policy in US Patent application requires that an inventor should sufficiently reveal how an invention works to justify the grant of the patent.

A US Patent application is examined in most jurisdictions. In most countries, the first to file a patent application for the invention is presumed to be the owner of the rights to the invention.

The date of filing and the content of the first application for an invention largely determine forever the potential validity and value of that patent, and the ability to file for similar patents in other countries.

An application must be filed in any country in which patent protection is desired. An international application can reserve the right to file national applications later in designated or elected countries.

As a practical matter, it is important to file an initial application before anyone else invents, describes uses, applies for a patent, or patents the invention anywhere.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is tasked with issuing patents to inventors which give them the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling their invention in the United States.

In exchange for this grant, the inventors must disclose their invention to the public in the form of a patent application.

There are three types of U.S. patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which are: utility patents, design patents and plant patents.

To be patentable, an invention essentially must meet the following requirements set by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which are:

• Useful
• Novel, and
• Non-obvious.

The novelty requirement of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is often consider the entry test for patentability.  The probably more demanding, non-obviousness requirement is harder to objectively define.

The typical way that an examiner in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows obviousness is to cite a number of prior art references that, when combined as suggested by possibly another prior art reference, contain all of the elements of the applicant’s invention.

Patents are issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to any person who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement to an already patented invention.

If you intend to apply for a patent, you should not publicly disclose the invention before you file an application at UK Patent Office because this could be counted as prior publication of your invention.

Any type of disclosure (whether by word of mouth, demonstration, advertisement or article in a journal), by the applicant or anyone acting for them, could prevent the applicant from getting a patent at UK Patent Office for his invention.

It could also be a reason for having the patent revoked by UK Patent Office if one was obtained. It is essential that the applicant only makes any disclosure under conditions of strict confidence.

Any conversation you have with patent agents, solicitors or UK Patent Office staff is confidential, so anything you say to any of these people will not count as revealing your invention early.

You may have come across Invention Promoters, firms who offer to help evaluate, develop and market your idea. The UK Patent Office does not give financial assistance to inventors. There are no rules on when a patent should be filed at UK Patent Office.

United States patents pertains to the grant of a property right to the inventor to make, use, sell or offer to sell an invention.  United States Patents are issued by the United States patents and Trademark Office.

Generally, the term of United States patents is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.

United States patents   grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. Under certain circumstances, United States patents term extensions or adjustments may be available.

United States patents have four general types:

• Utility patents, usually referred to as “patents” without any further qualification,
• Design patents which cover the ornamental appearance of various products,
• Plant patents  which cover asexually  reproduced varieties of plants, e.g. hybrid roses, fruit trees bearing new types of fruit, etc., and
• Semiconductor chip masks which are not called patents but are handled by the Patent and Trademark Office.

United States patent is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Generally, the term of a new United States patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.

United States patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. Under certain circumstances, United States patent term extensions or adjustments may be available.

A United States Patent gives an inventor the right to exclude all others from making, using, importing, selling or offering to sell the invention for up to 20 years without the inventor’s permission.

This gives the inventor the opportunity to produce and market the invention himself, or license others to do so, and to make a profit.  What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention.