How do I get a patent?
- The Patent Act, passed in 1952, specifies that someone wishing to obtain a patent must satisfy specific requirements. Although you could attempt to patent an invention yourself, a good place to start is by contacting a patent attorney.
- Make sure it qualifies as patentable subject matter.
- Determine that there is a good chance that the Patent Office will find the invention to be new and novel. Typically, we conduct a novelty search to determine if the invention has already been patented, or it has any patentable qualities in light of all the previous patents issued. Most new inventions contain some patentable material.
- Draft a patent application. Either do it yourself or hire a registered patent attorney or agent to do it for you. Unless you are skilled or you simply cannot or will not pay a professional to do it for you, you should hire a good patent attorney to draft and prosecute your patent application. If an invention is worth patenting, it is probably worth getting the job done right. The patent application must disclose how the invention works. The application must also describe in detail the patentable features of the invention. Patent “claims” distinguish your invention from the prior art in the field and assert how your invention is new, useful, and non-obvious.
- File the patent application. Again, you can either do this yourself or hire a patent attorney to do it for you.
- “Prosecute” the patent application by responding to any requests, objections, and/or rejections which the examiner raises. This often takes several communications with the examiner, spaced over several years. Most patent practitioners maintain a docketing system to insure that responses are timely, despite the long pauses in the communications with the PTO.
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