The 3 Types of Patents: Utility, Design, & Plant Patents

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Topic: Law, Patent Law

As a general rule, patents are associated with things and processes which are vital to the world the only exception though are innovative designs. Patents also allow the creator of some inventions to preclude others from making use of it commercially without the permission of the creator. It is possible to acquire patent on technologies used in arts.

Nevertheless, the exceptions to the general rule are on product designs. It is thus theoretically potential to acquire design patent on the purely ornamental aspects of design while also having a copyright on same design.

Patents convey to the creator the right to exclude others from using or producing the former’s creation for a limited time. A patent for an invention is an award of a property right to the inventor. It is given by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A new patent may last up to 20 years from the date of application in the US. In special cases, it may start from the date of an earlier filed application. The application is subject to maintenance fees. It is also noteworthy to know that patent grants in US are only effective within US, its territories and possessions. If you want your patent grants to have extensions or adjustments, you can avail of the same under certain circumstances.

There are three types of patents. They are:

Utility patents which may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers a machine, vital process, composition of matter, article of manufacture or any useful improvement thereof
Design patents may be granted to anyone who creates a new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture
Plant patents may also be granted to anyone who creates or discovers at the same time asexually reproduce any distinct and new variety of plant.

What is vested by the patent is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import but the right to EXCLUDE others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing said creation or invention. If the patent has already been issued, the patentee must enforce it without the assistance of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The gist of this statute is to grant authority to protect discoveries and creations. In order to be patented an invention must be novel, useful, and not of an obvious nature. Now, the creators/inventors can shun their worries about having works copied or used without their permission.