Types of Patents Available in the United States
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues design, plant, and utility patents. Duke rarely files design or plant patents, but files substantial numbers of utility patent applications each year.
Differences Between U.S. Utility Applications
The USPTO offers two types of utility patents: provisional and non-provisional.
Provisional patent applications may be filed for any invention that has not been publicly disclosed for more than one year from the date of filing.
A provisional patent application obtains a priority date (date of application receipt by the USPTO). A provisional patent application does not get examined by the USPTO; instead it is used as a vehicle to obtain a priority date.
To obtain patent protection, one must file a non-provisional patent application within one year of the priority date.
Non-provisional patent applications may be filed at any time within the one-year term of the provisional patent application or may be filed directly (without having filed a provisional patent application.)
The non-provisional patent application is categorized by invention class and sent to the examiner that reviews inventions in that class.
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Patents Outside of the United States