How to Submit an Idea to Get a Patent
A patent is important to obtain if you have an idea or invention that you want to put your name on. A patent is received from the government and essentially reserves all creation rights in your name. It also excludes other people from making or profiting off your idea or the invention product itself. Each kind of invention has its own patent and various rules and time lines apply.
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Instructions
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Go to www.uspto.gov, the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Here you'll find applications for various types of patents. The types of patents are utility patent, design patent and plant patent.
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Download and print the patent application. Fill it out. This will likely take several hours to several days because of all the information that is required.
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Hire a patent lawyer, if necessary. Patent lawyers specialize in obtaining patents for their clients and can help you through the process. Your lawyer will translate any legal jargon and make the process easier.
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Submit your application either electronically at uspto.gov or send it to the commissioner for patents (address below). Make sure you include payment to cover the basic fee, which is $380 for design, $600 for plant and $850 for utility.
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Wait for your application to be reviewed. There is no set time for a patent to be approved, but it can take several weeks to several years. Fortunately, once you have applied, your patent will soon go into "patent pending" mode (within several months), which makes it off limits to others.
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