Patents and Trademarks: Protecting Your IP

To protect inventors and advance discoveries!

Once granted a patent you can:

• Damages for infringement
• Criminal penalties
• Excluding others
• Royalties
• Foster Innovation

A patent is one way of protecting your intellectual property (IP) rights over something that you have created.

• Patent

    Inventive, unique, novel and no-obvious  

There are three main types of patents:

1. Utility - Articles of manufacture, processes, machines, methods (20 years from application, renewable 3 times)
2. Design - Ornamental (15 years, non-renewable) JohnDeere Green
3. Plants - Asexually reproduced, new varieties (20 years)

Are you eligible to get a patent?

Who can get a patent:

• Must have conceived invention
• Contribution to claims
• Joint inventorship
• Oaths and declarations
• Transferring
• Independent

Steps to get a patent:

•     Full disclosure of invention
•     Prove Patentable subject matter 35 USC $101
  •     Novelty 35 USC $102
  •     Non-obvious 35 USC $103