What Do I Need to Do to Patent a Website?

Protecting your creativity is important.

The sheer volume of material on the Internet makes it hard to monitor how others may be using your creative content. To safeguard your intellectual property, you should patent your website.

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, website to review the provisional agreement application for a patent and its requirements, such as providing a written description of your website and drawings or a site map of the website, if needed.

Application Information

To patent a website, you'll need to fill out a copy of the provisional application and the names and addresses of investors, if any. Include the title of your website and a correspondence address for future mailed notification of the website's patent. You won't receive proper notification if you don't supply your current address.

USPTO Filing Fee

Pay your filing fee to patent the website. You may pay the filing fee by check or money order. Once your filing fee for the patent of the website is received, allow 10 business days to complete the patent process. You'll receive notification by mail that the USPTO has officially had the website patented. Keep this notification for your records.

References

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Provisional Application for Patent