Utility patents protect inventions. The range of inventions is surprisingly broad, however. The usual image in the public mind of an "invention" is a better mechanical device. Yes, machinery is a part of the domain of patents cover, but it is only a small part of that wide range of matter that patents protect. Any new "item of manufacture" might be patentable, a definition so broad as to be almost useless. Readers are invited to look around the room they are seated in: what is visible which is NOT an item of manufacture?
Electronic devices, analog and digital circuitry, and electrical devices are patentable, and our firm has a good deal of expertise in the area. Integrated Circuits may be patented or otherwise protected.
Needless to say, computer related devices, components, and methods are patentable.
Software methods, often treated as devices, are patentable, even when not in conjunction with a physical process. In such cases, it is beneficial to obtain patents which are drawn up to cover the overall concept, algorithmn or operation of the software rather than the more restrictive coverage offered by protecting a specific implementation or code set itself.
Chemical compounds and formulas are patentable. Chemical processes are frequently patented. Such protection can even be granted to cover products as produced by a specific process, so inventors often receive chemical patents based upon finding a new way to make that particular chemical or compound.
Biotechnology is in the news enough that the fact that genes, gene sequences, genetically altered organisms and related products are patentable is well known to the public. This can have some odd effects, for example, the thought that someone might manage to patent genes carried by many people. In fact, such worries became a central motivation for some of the efforts to map the human genome.
Pharmaceuticals are also patentable in the United States. This is not so in every country, so inventors should consult a patent attorney if they have hopes of marketing a medication internationally. Some of the most profitable, and famous, medications presently available are under patent: the registered trade names of at least two are household words: "Viagra" and "Prozac".
Improvements on older inventions are patentable. Methods of doing something, that is, *processes* are patentable. Old products, produced by a new process, are patentable. Older products, used in a new way or for a new purpose become patentable as part of the new method. New breeds of plants are patentable. So are algorithms, in some ways. (But not the idea behind them.) Increasingly, genes are patentable, and recently the US Supreme Court overturned an old doctrine to make methods of doing business patentable. Even decorations having no useful purpose on a useful item (like the design on the side of a lamp, for example) have their own special category of patents. If a reader has an idea, and isn't sure if it can be protected through patent law, please ask a patent attorney!
Even in the very small part of the patent world which is related to machinery, no actual machine need be constructed to obtain a patent, if the inventor can merely disclose the invention in sufficient detail to allow one skilled in that technology to "practice" (build, create or carry out) an example of the invention, than the inventor has done enough to meet this requirement. The inventor need not even be skilled in the technological field themselves! (There are numerous other formal requirements for patentability, of course.) And numerous other things are patentable as well.
In general, patents offer a 20 year monopoly on the making, use and sale of the patented invention. Escalating US maintenance fees are due three times during the twenty year period but are small enough any profitable invention will mor than support payment of the fees.
Design patents are an interesting type of patent which covers not a useful invention but rather the ornamentation or decorative features of an everyday article. To understand the difference between a utility patent and a design patent, consider a light fixture which operates mechanically in a new and more efficient way. It could be protected by a utility patent. However, if the shape of the fixture was unique, or if it had unique ornamentation on the exterior, then such ornamental aspects could be protected by a design patent. Design patents (ornamentation) are much easier to prepare than utility patents (inventions) and thus usually cost less than half of what it would cost to have a utility patent prepared.
Petite patents (or "UTILITY MODELS" -- not
to be confused with UTILITY PATENTS, see above) are
forms of protection only available abroad, not in the US. While requirements vary
from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, utility model laws usually require a lower
level of inventiveness than "true patents" (utility patents) and offer a shorter
period of protection. We won't discuss these further in this web site.
Can genuine inexpensive patents be obtained? Yes, but... Numerous businesses exist which claim to "register" inventions for very low fees, even under $100. It sounds too good to be true, and it is. Such "registrations" are NOT inexpensive patents, they are not patents at all. According to the United States Patent Office, independent inventors lose $200 MILLION to patent scam artists in some years! The Patent Office maintains a "scam hotline", toll free, at 866-767-3848. However, it is possible to obtain honest assistance with the patent process. At the other extreme, patent agents and patent attorneys are ethically monitored by the Patent Office and (in the case of patent attorneys) by state supreme courts and bar associations as well.
Patent attorneys and patent agents are also required to
maintain all client matters (especially inventions!) as secrets. This requirement is very
strict, for obvious reasons! Feel free to call us at 877-227-2371 for a free initial consultation and ask,
right up front, about client confidentiality.
If you are interested in trademarks and copyright protection as well as patents, read the next two sections.
Otherwise, skip ahead to the next topic that interests you.
1. Types of Intellectual Property
2. About Patents
.....a) Computer Patents
.....b) Software Patents
.....c) Telecommunications Patents
.....d) Electronics Patents
.....e) Business Method Patents
.....f) E-commerce Patents
.....g) Mechanical Patents
.....h) Chemistry Patents
.....i) Biotechnology
Patents
.....j) Pharmaceutical
Patents
3. About Trademarks
4. About Copyrights
5. Other Types of Protection
6. International Protection
7. Costs
8. For a Free Initial Consultation
9. Further Questions
10. About Mr.
Barber
* Viagra and Prozac are respectively registered trademarks of Pfizer, Incorporated and Eli Lilly and Company Corporation.