If It's Worth Stealing, It's Worth Protecting

The inventor completes an Invention Disclosure Form or some other form of written disclosure which provides the patent attorney with a description of the invention and other important information.

The patent attorney conducts a novelty search at the Patent and Trademark Office. This search will reveal US patents (if any) that cover inventions similar to yours. (You might want to do your own preliminary search before ordering a professional search).

If, after reviewing the results of the novelty search, you decide to proceed further, the patent attorney will prepare and file an application for you. You may now mark the product "patent pending". The patent application will be held in confidence by the Patent Office, so only you and your attorney will know what it contains or be able to view the file, for 18 months from your earliest filing date, at least. (But see the next question, about publication of patent applications after 18 months)

A Patent Examiner at the Patent Office will then review the application and do his or her own search.

The examiner will issue an "office action," usually rejecting the application. The rejections are most often based on format or wording (sometimes called "112 rejections", after the section of the Patent Law which applies), novelty ("102 rejections") or obviousness ("103 rejections"). See our page "How to read an Office Action" for more information on Office Actions.

Your attorney can reply to the action by modifying the application, arguing with the Examiner, etc. The one thing you cannot do is add any new matter to the application - which is why the application must be as complete as possible when it is filed. If you must add new material, then you'll need to file a new "Continuation In Part" patent application, and start the process all over again.

If the Examiner is satisfied by the reply then the patent will be issued, upon payment of an issue fee.