Dig Deeper: The Pros and Cons of Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
How to File for a Patent: Patents and the PTO
On average, it takes the Patent and Trademark Office 24.6 months to process patent applications and issue approved patents. Examinations of patent applications, which are undertaken in the order in which they are received, are arduous exercises, encompassing inspection of legal compliance and comprehensive searches to ensure the invention's legitimacy.
If an application is approved, then the inventor can proceed with his business plan, whether that involved launching a small business or seeking buyers for the invention. Many applications, however, are rejected when they are first submitted. Even applications for genuinely new products or designs sometimes need changes to meet PTO requirements. In instances in which the application is rejected, the inventor has limited options. The inventor can prepare a response to the examiner's stated grounds for rejection, explaining why he or she believes that the examiner erred; this is a viable step, and one which sometimes convinces examiners to reconsider. The inventor can also offer amendments to the application designed to assuage the examiner's objections.
On many occasions, however, the examiner will remain unpersuaded and will reject the inventor's claims, If this happens, the inventor can lodge appeals with the PTO commissioner and, after that, the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. If the application is still deemed unacceptable, and the inventor remains determined to pursue the issue, he or she can then turn to the U.S. court system. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia have both heard such cases.
Dig Deeper: Are Business Methods Patentable?
How to File for a Patent: Factoring the Costs
Receivers of patents must pay fees to the PTO for services rendered when a patent is reviewed. In 1982 a law was passed that cut some of these fees (patent application, extension of time, revival, appeal, patent issues, statutory disclaimer, maintenance on patents) for "small entities." Small entities were held to include independent inventors, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. In addition, all utility patents are subject to the payment of maintenance fees that must be paid to keep the patent going. These payments are made at several different points of the patent's life. Inventors need to heed this payment schedule closely, for nonpayment may result in the premature expiration of the patent (a six-month grace period is typically provided during which the fee can be paid, albeit with a surcharge). Inventors who secure the services of a patent attorney generally do not have to worry about this scenario as much, since a competent attorney will notify them of impending maintenance fee payments.
As of April 2009, new updates to PTO fees were put in place. These fees vary widely for different application forms and services. The range for initial patent application fees is between $220 and $330 – but for qualified small entities, those fees are cut in half. A full list of fees is posted on the PTO Web site located at uspto.gov.
Dig Deeper: Securing a Patent -- The Inventor (and Investor) Advantage
Resources
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) maintains a website to allow inventors to search registered patents and published applications and to electronically file a patent application at uspto.gov/ebc/.
The PTO also maintains a website with patent information geared specifically for small businesses at uspto.gov/smallbusiness.
National Inventor Fraud Center is located at inventorfraud.com.
Levy, Richard C. The Inventor's Desktop Companion. Visible Ink Press, 1995.
A report that Thomas Field wrote for the U.S. Small Business Administration, Avoiding Patent, Trademark and Copyright Problems, is available on the website of the Franklin Peirce Law Center, where he is now a professor of law.
The U.S. Small Business Administration's sponsored report on small business patents, An Analysis of Small Business Patents by Industry and Firm Size, issued in November 2008, is available at sba.gov/advo/research.
