Patent registration in the USA

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) handles the patenting process in the United States. The USPTO specializes in the registration of patents and trademarks for innovative business ideas, technical and design solutions.

It is important for those wishing to protect the novelty of their invention in America to understand that the foreign system for securing intellectual property rights differs significantly from the domestic system. This means that it is best for applicants to use the services of experienced lawyers with many years of experience interacting with the USPTO. This will allow to take into account all the legal nuances, avoid significant costs of personal time and save nerves.

The essence of patenting an object is to establish its novelty and uniqueness. This criterion is determined depending on the availability of similar exhibits in other countries of the world. A special examination helps to accurately establish the patentability of the model proposed by the applicant.

The main advantage of obtaining a U.S. patent registration document is the ability to solely receive investment, advertise and distribute the invention.

Peculiarities of patenting in the United States

Types of patents

Patent applicants choose one of the options for securing the priority of an invention. Among them:

• Utility patent.Allows to register exclusive rights to production processes, devices, their composition and principle of operation. The validity period of a patent for inventions is 20 years from the date of registration. During this time, the patent holder solely manufactures, uses and distributes the innovative technical solution.
• Design Patent. Allows you to secure the rights to the object of the product design. Individuals can get priority to create and use original images and ornaments. The duration of the document is 14 years.
• Plant Patent.It implies protection of new plant varieties. Breeders receive a patent for 20 years.

Conditions for the patenting procedure

If applicants from the Russian Federation wish to register their rights to inventions in America, they will need to fulfill a number of conditions. In order for the model to meet the requirements of patentability, it must have:

• Prior Art, a certain state of the art. It is advantageous for the author to provide a full description of the innovative product. Disclosure of detailed information about the technical solution makes it possible to enjoy a grace period (1 year) for submitting an application. A provisional or basic application should be submitted before the start of sales.
• Inventive step, non-obviousness or inventive level. The model must be recognized as a product of inventive creativity. The author of the solution can be a subject with non-standard qualification in the field of science and technology. The criterion of non-obviousness is established by experts at the time of project creation.
• Utility, useful qualities. The solutions proposed by the author must be beneficial. It is important that, in the process of applying them, the legally regulated public interests, rules of morality and public policy are not violated.

Stages of patenting in the United States

The complicated procedure of patenting is quite problematic without knowledge of foreign legislation and the English language. Persons who intend to obtain priority rights to inventions, it is advantageous to cooperate with companies that act as representatives in interaction with the USPTO.

The general procedure for registering an author's rights in the United States involves going through several successive steps, including:

• Patent search. It is necessary to study published materials of industrialized countries. The purpose of the search is to find analogues. Thus, the new model is checked by the patentability criterion.
• Sending a preliminary application (not applicable to design rights registration). It is necessary to determine when exclusive rights will be granted. After filing a provisional application, the author has one year to improve his invention.

There are a number of circumstances when filing a Provisional is mandatory. This occurs if the idea needs to be refined, tested, or if the inventor needs to raise additional investment to cover the cost of the patent.

• Submission of the main application. It is filed at the stage of full completion of the invention. After sending Nonprovisional, the author may not supplement the developed model. The detailed description of the elements of the product, method of application, claims, differences from the existing analogues are recorded during the formation of the application.

At the same time with sending the Nonprovisional a person pays a fixed patent fee. The amount of the fee is determined according to the applicant's status.

Grounds for refusal to grant a patent

The designated U.S. Office has the right to reject an application for protection of an invention. If the officials have grounds to do so, a written notice shall be sent to the applicant stating the reason for the rejection.

The person executing the patent may respond to the notice within 3 months of receiving it. The response may include a request to amend the patent application. The USPTO staff may grant or deny the petition. Adjustments are made to the application that do not go beyond the original proposal.

Among the main reasons for rejecting a patent application are:

• Non-compliance of the model with the patentability criteria.
• Availability of information about the object in public publications.
• Sale of products before patent registration is applied for.
• Presence in any state of the world of a similar patented product, registered to another author.
• The announcement of the invention to the public.
• Establishment of the fact of creation of an idea by a person not named in the application.
• Skipping the grace period for submitting an application.

To analyze existing inventions, competent examiners look at national and foreign primary and secondary patents, technical journals and other sources of information on new ideas. Since a model cannot be re-patented, if similar products are found, the application will be rejected for lack of novelty.

If there are objective arguments based on documentary evidence, the author can challenge the rejection. If violations of the applicable rules are found after the approval of the application, the authorized bodies may invalidate the issued patent.

To appeal an expert decision, it is better to involve qualified representatives who can study the situation in detail and take effective measures to assert exclusive rights.

The cost of patenting in the United States

The cost of recognizing inventor's rights in the United States is calculated on a case-by-case basis. The cost will be influenced by the scope of patenting, the applicant's status and location, and will vary between $5,000 and $10,000. It is necessary to take into account the cost of the mandatory fee, the amount of which is determined by the legal form of the legal entity that formalizes the authorship of the invention.

Our services in Russia and abroad

Interregional Patent Law Company "Prof-Patent" offers full support for the project of patenting inventions in the USA. Qualified specialists are engaged in registration of exclusive rights to innovative models, business ideas, trademarks, design objects and other types of intellectual property.

Experienced specialists provide professional assistance to individuals and legal entities of various forms of ownership. Patenting services are provided throughout the Russian Federation. A group of Russian-speaking attorneys and attorneys advises and assists with:

• Search for inventions, utility models and industrial designs.
• Protecting the interests of clients in state bodies, including courts of all instances.
• Forming and filing documents for a patent with the USPTO.
• To defend the principal in the United States against unlawful use of an invention, unfair competition.

Experienced experts in the implementation of Russian and international law work with clients. They help effectively protect intellectual and industrial property at the lowest prices. To find out the terms of service in Russia and abroad, please call 8-(863)-231-17-23, 8-(863)-231-17-60.