3.6 Patents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.

The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Patent FAQs:

https://www.legalzoom.com/knowledge/patent/faq

In general terms, a utility patent protects the way an article is used and works, while a design patent protects the way an article looks.

(The ornamental appearance for an article includes its shape/configuration
or surface ornamentation applied to the article, or both.)

In the United States, for utility patents filed on or after June 8, 1995, the term of the patent is 20 years from the earliest filing date of the application on which the patent was granted and any prior U.S. or Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications from which the patent claims priority (excluding provisional).

Patents issued from design applications filed on or after May 13, 2015 shall be granted
for the term of 15 years from the date of grant.

However, patents issued from design applications filed before May 13, 2015 have a 14-year term from the date of grant. Design Patents have the letters “Des” at the beginning of the patent number.

Patent infringement

Violation of a patent owner's rights with respect to some invention. Unless permitted by the patent owner, one commits patent infringement by making, using, offering to sell, or selling something that contains every element of a patented claim or its equivalent while the patent is in effect.

For infringement to occur, the prohibited act must be done in the United States or a violating product must be imported into the United States after being created abroad.

Google Patents search engine:

https://patents.google.com/

Patent Example:

3.6 Patents

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Patent infringement

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