What are the different types of patents?

• There are three “types” of United States patents: Utility patents, Design patents, and Plant patents. When most people refer to a patent, they are referring to a utility patent. There is no such thing as a Provisional patent (see What is a Provisional Patent Application? below).
• A “letters” patent is a grant of a set of rights from the United States government that is enforceable in our courts. The rights include the right to exclude others from making, selling, or using the patented item or process in the United States for the term of the patent.
• Note that the right granted by the government is not an affirmative right; in other words, it is not the right to make, sell or use the invention. Quite to the contrary, it is simply the right to keep others from making, selling or using the invention. While this might seem a distinction without a difference, it most assuredly is not. It is quite possible to have a patent on an invention and not be able to make, sell or use the invention. This happens most frequently when an earlier patent was granted on the basic invention. If the second inventor cannot practice his invention without using all of the patented elements of the first invention, the second inventor will infringe the first inventor’s patent.

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