Utility Patents

A utility patent application, unlike a provisional patent application, can issue as a patent giving you the exclusive rights to your invention. This allows you to prevent or exclude other persons and companies from making (manufacturing), using (typically customers), selling (typically the sales and distribution chain), or importing any products that include your invention in the country(ies) you have an issued patent.

Unlike a provisional patent application, filing a utility patent application has significant additional costs following filing to try to convince the U.S. Patent Office that your idea warrents issuance of a patent (i.e. is actually an “invention” meaning it is new and non-obvious in light of the “prior art”). Also, unlike a provisional patent application which expires one year from its filing date, a utility patent application gives you “patent pending” for as long as the patent application is pending (i.e. not abandoned or a patent issues on the application).

Like a provisional patent application, a utility patent application allows you to see if your invention has commercial appeal without the risk that if you tell people, they will “steal” the idea. Also, while a non-disclosure agreement can help, but not everyone is willing to sign one.

Like a provisional patent application, a utility patent application establishes your priority with a “date of invention.” In other words, it tells the world “This is my invention.”

You can tell people about the idea, seek funding to develop the invention, even begin selling the invention, with confidence that your invention is protected from being stolen (though you do not have patent rights until a patent issues as explained above).