by: New_Product_Expert
Total views: 1
Word Count: 739

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is the governmental agency in charge of granting patents to inventors. As USPTO.gov states, For over 200 years, the basic role of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution). The major function of the patents office is to examine patent applications and determine whether or not the invention in question is worthy of a patent. They also examine trademark applications in the same way. Unlike many other government agencies, the patents office is self-funded, that is, supported solely by the fees it collects from inventors for patent and trademark applications. The patents office has three essential responsibilities as an agency: 1) It administers the laws pertaining to patents and trademarks 2) It advises the Secretary of Commerce, the President, and his entire administration on the protection of patents, trademarks, and copyrights 3) It provides general advice to the public on the trade aspects of intellectual property. In total, the United States Patent and Trademark Office employs 8,189 people. Most of them work in the patent office's five-building headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Of that number, 4,883 employees are patent examiners. These are the people who physically evaluate your patent application for the various criterions and decide whether or not to grant a patent. Another 413 employees are trademark examination attorneys. These are people qualified to act in matters involving trademark law, and accordingly, they have the task of evaluating trademark applications. There is one key difference between these two groups. Patent examiners are scientists or engineers, but they are not required to have law degrees and so not all of them do. Trademark examiners, on the other hand, are required to be licensed attorneys. Both groups of examiners work under a quota system that dictates how many patents and trademarks they are authorized to grant in a given timeframe. The remaining employees are all support staff to one or both of these two groups. The patents office grants literally thousands of patents to corporations and inventors every year. To date, over seven million patents have been issued and recognized by the agency. With the advent of Internet technology and the World Wide Web, the patents office has begun accepting patent applications filed electronically. Inventors or their patent attorneys have been able to file patent applications as Adobe PDF documents since March of 2006. The process is relatively straightforward and can be accomplished at the following web URL. Filing fees are paid via credit card or a USPTO "deposit account", which is explained in greater detail on the website. The ability to search for existing patents via the USPTO website has also improved in recent years. The website provides free electronic copies of existing patents with using TIFF, a container format for storing images. However, several commercial services exist to provide patent documents in other, more convenient formats such as CPC and Adobe PDF. It is also possible for inventors to file their own patent applications without the help of a patent lawyer. This is known as pro se patent filing, and is actually quite common as a means of saving thousands of dollars is legal fees. The general rule is that the less complex an invention is, the more sense it makes for the inventor to do some homework and attempt to file the application himself. If an invention is significantly complex, however, it is probably a better idea to seek the aid of a patent attorney. While the patents office cannot recommend specific attorneys to you, they do post a list of registered attorneys. If you are new to inventing and unsure of where to find a good attorney, use this list as a starting point. Copy down the names of some attorneys in your area and investigate them further before deciding on one. In closing, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is the agency you must deal with in your quest for patent protection. By educating yourself about the nature and expectations of this agency, you will be better prepared to get your patent approved.

About the Author

Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers and manufacturers. EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com or http://www.ideabuyer.com

---

View PDF | Print View

---

Rating: Not yet rated

--Choose-- 0 1 2 3 4 5

Comments

No comments posted.

Add Comment

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.
Next Article - Issues With Thermal Transfer Printheads?
Previous Article - Sell an Invention in 30 Days

More Related Articles In This Category

1: Forms Of Incorporation: A Simple Guide
2: Business Incorporation Formation: A Brief Guide
3: Secrets to Buying Phuket Apartments
4: Do You Share Your Expertise Enough?
5: Basic Internet Marketing Strategies You Need To Know About
6: Commercial Business Burglary Prevention
7: Build Your Real Estate "Investor" List in Eight Steps
8: How to Manage Sales Stress
9: Selling ANY House in a Slow Market: 5 Tips
10: Binary Network Marketing Pay Plan Explained
11: How To Ship Hazardous Material
12: One Million Dollars or $22,000? Tax Planning May Be the Difference
13: How To Buy UL Labels
14: New Technology Development Steps for Inventors
15: Why Paranoid Inventors Fail
16: Purchasing Patents for Sale
17: How To Cash In On Network Marketing Stock
18: New Invention First Steps
19: The Priorities for Gaining Credibility for Your Invention
20: Shipping and Receiving: Making Your Mail Room Safe
21: The Dangers of Procrastination
22: Improve Your Money Consciousness - It's key to Your Success
23: 12 Tips For Crating A Newsletter That Gets Read
24: Issues With Thermal Transfer Printheads?
25: Information About the Patent Office

---

For WebMasters

Link This Article - HTML Code -

<a href="http://americanahost.com/articles/business/ask-an-expert/information-about-the-patent-office.html" target=_blank>Information About the Patent Office</a>

Link This Article - BBcode -

[url=http://americanahost.com/articles/business/ask-an-expert/information-about-the-patent-office.html]Information About the Patent Office[/url]

Copy This HTML Code To Put This Article In Your Web Site.

<h1>Information About the Patent Office</h1><br><br> <br><br> The United States Patent and Trademark Office is the governmental agency in charge of granting patents to inventors. As USPTO.gov states, For over 200 years, the basic role of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution). The major function of the patents office is to examine patent applications and determine whether or not the invention in question is worthy of a patent. They also examine trademark applications in the same way. Unlike many other government agencies, the patents office is self-funded, that is, supported solely by the fees it collects from inventors for patent and trademark applications. The patents office has three essential responsibilities as an agency: 1) It administers the laws pertaining to patents and trademarks 2) It advises the Secretary of Commerce, the President, and his entire administration on the protection of patents, trademarks, and copyrights 3) It provides general advice to the public on the trade aspects of intellectual property. In total, the United States Patent and Trademark Office employs 8,189 people. Most of them work in the patent office's five-building headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Of that number, 4,883 employees are patent examiners. These are the people who physically evaluate your patent application for the various criterions and decide whether or not to grant a patent. Another 413 employees are trademark examination attorneys. These are people qualified to act in matters involving trademark law, and accordingly, they have the task of evaluating trademark applications. There is one key difference between these two groups. Patent examiners are scientists or engineers, but they are not required to have law degrees and so not all of them do. Trademark examiners, on the other hand, are required to be licensed attorneys. Both groups of examiners work under a quota system that dictates how many patents and trademarks they are authorized to grant in a given timeframe. The remaining employees are all support staff to one or both of these two groups. The patents office grants literally thousands of patents to corporations and inventors every year. To date, over seven million patents have been issued and recognized by the agency. With the advent of Internet technology and the World Wide Web, the patents office has begun accepting patent applications filed electronically. Inventors or their patent attorneys have been able to file patent applications as Adobe PDF documents since March of 2006. The process is relatively straightforward and can be accomplished at the following web URL. Filing fees are paid via credit card or a USPTO "deposit account", which is explained in greater detail on the website. The ability to search for existing patents via the USPTO website has also improved in recent years. The website provides free electronic copies of existing patents with using TIFF, a container format for storing images. However, several commercial services exist to provide patent documents in other, more convenient formats such as CPC and Adobe PDF. It is also possible for inventors to file their own patent applications without the help of a patent lawyer. This is known as pro se patent filing, and is actually quite common as a means of saving thousands of dollars is legal fees. The general rule is that the less complex an invention is, the more sense it makes for the inventor to do some homework and attempt to file the application himself. If an invention is significantly complex, however, it is probably a better idea to seek the aid of a patent attorney. While the patents office cannot recommend specific attorneys to you, they do post a list of registered attorneys. If you are new to inventing and unsure of where to find a good attorney, use this list as a starting point. Copy down the names of some attorneys in your area and investigate them further before deciding on one. In closing, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is the agency you must deal with in your quest for patent protection. By educating yourself about the nature and expectations of this agency, you will be better prepared to get your patent approved.<br><br> <h3>About The Author</h3> Eric Corl is the President of Idea Buyer LLC, a marketplace for new technology and products that gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers and manufacturers. EricCorl@IdeaBuyer.com or http://www.ideabuyer.com<br><br> Keywords: <b>patents, invention, patent office, patent process</b> <br><br>Article Source : <a href="http://americanahost.com/articles"><b>Articles Directory</b></a></br> Article URL : <a href="http://americanahost.com/articles/business/ask-an-expert/information-about-the-patent-office.html" target=_blank>Information About the Patent Office</a></br> Article Category : <a href="http://americanahost.com/articles/business/ask-an-expert/">Ask an Expert</a></br> Article Author : <a href="http://americanahost.com/articles/profile/new_product_expert-1686.html">New_Product_Expert</a>

---

Article URL : Information About the Patent Office
Article Category : Ask an Expert
Article Author : New_Product_Expert