David Byrd: Inventor
& Patent Searcher
Patent Search Room - Patent &
Trademark Office Arlington Virginia
A
Pass to the Patent Search Room
The Basics: What
is The United States Patent and Trademark Office? In summary: For over 200 years,
the basic role of the Patent and Trademark
Office (PTO) has been "to promote the progress of science and the useful
arts by securing, for limited time, to inventors the exclusive right to
their respective discoveries" (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States
Constitution). Since 1825, the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has been
an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Patent and Trademark
Office grants patents
for the protection of inventions, registers trademarks
and advises the Department of Commerce and other agencies of the Government
in matters involving patents and trademarks. The Patent and Trademark Office
examines applications and grants patents on inventions when applicants
are entitled to them. It publishes and disseminates patent information,
records assignments of patents, maintains search files of U.S. and foreign
patents, and maintains a search room for public use in examining issued
patents and records. It also supplies copies of patents and official records
to the public. Similar functions are performed relating to trademarks.
Patents: Tell
me all about patents. In summary: A "patent" is a legal
document, issued by the federal government (via the PTO), entitling its
holder to prevent others from making, using or selling the invention claimed
by the patent during its term without the owner's permission. Patent rights
are like property rights; they can be sold or licensed to someone else.
There are three basic types of patents: utility, design and plant. Plant
patents are granted for newly discovered asexually reproduced plants. Design
patents are granted for the novel, ornamental characteristics of a product,
apart from the structural design. Most patents issued are utility patents.
These are for inventions: "whoever invents or discovers any new and useful
process, machine, [article of] manufacture, or composition of matter, or
any new or useful improvement thereof." 35 U.S.C. Section 101.
History: A little bit of IP
history... a little bit more. In summary: Modern patents have
their origins in Europe. European sovereigns commonly awarded "letters
patent" to favored inventors. These letters had their seal on the outside,
with the writing open "or patent" for all to see. The first U.S. patent
laws were enacted by Congress in 1790 as part of the Constitution. Before
then, the King of England officially owned all intellectual property created
by the colonists. Thanks to the Constitution, we are all guaranteed the
freedom to individually patent, copyright or trademark our "intellectual
property" (the assets created out of one's intellect). George Washington
signed the First United States Patent Grant on July 31, 1790 and the patent
examiner was Thomas Jefferson. The first U.S. patent went to Samuel Hopkins
of Pitsford, Vermont for a new method of making potash, an industrial chemical
used in making soap, glass, fertilizers and gunpowder.
A
Pass to the Patent Search Room
