WHAT PROTECTION DOES A DESIGN PATENT PROVIDE?
UNITED STATES DESIGN PATENT
Deliverables from Licensed Patent Attorney:
- Representation before the USPTO
- Unlimited consultations and revisions
- Full draft preparation, no page limits
- Formal professionally rendered patent drawings
Industrial Designs and Utility Models
Deliverables from Licensed Patent Attorney:
- Representation before the USPTO
- Unlimited consultations and revisions
- Full draft preparation, no page limits
- Formal professionally rendered patent drawings
Any person who has invented or discovered a new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter may obtain a patent for it. This also includes any new or useful improvement on a past invention. Laws of nature and theories are not patentable. This requirement is outlined in title 35 of the United Stated Code, Section 101 (abbreviated as 35 U.S.C. 101). You do not need to have actually constructed or used your invention to get a patent on it. Having a good idea of how your invention is made and used is sufficient.
A Design Patent will protect your design and any “substantial similar” designs like it for 15 years.
If you don’t file a U.S. Patent Application within 12 months of public disclosure (such as sharing your idea with others) or within 12 months of offering your invention for sale to the public, you lose your patent rights. Even still, the longer you wait, the greater the risk of someone else filing a Patent Application for the idea you came up with first.
Important Note: Although the U.S. gives you a 12 month “grace” period to file a Patent Application after your first public disclosure, most other countries in the world do not. This means, in those countries, you will have lost your patent rights if you’ve made a public disclosure before filing the U.S. Patent Application.
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