FAQs Patent Questions

Question:What is a patent?

Answer:
A patent is a property right granted by the Government of the United States of America to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States” for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.

Question:If two applications are filled for the same patentable invention the Office will determine who is entitled to the patent

Answer:
Occasionally two or more applications are filed by different inventors claiming substantially the same patentable invention. The patent can only be granted to one of them, and a proceeding known as an “interference” is instituted by the Office to determine who is the first inventor and entitled to the patent.

Question:How do I obtain the status of a patent?

Answer:
The Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system permits third parties to obtain information about applications that have been published pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 122(b) and issued patents, such as the status of maintenance fee payments and whether or not a reissue application or reexamination request has been filed. PAIR can be accessed on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) web site at http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair.

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