(I) contracts. A patent for an invention is a grant made by the government of the United States to the inventor of any new or useful art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement in any art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter not known or used by others before his or their discovery or invention thereof, and not, at the time of his application for a patent, in public use or on sale, with his consent or allowance, as the inventor or discoverer; securing to him for a limited time, therein expressed, the full and exclusive right and liberty of making, constructing, using, and vending to others to be used, the said invention or discovery, on certain conditions, among which is the one of at once giving up his secret and making public his discovery or invention, and the manner of making and using the same, so that at the expiration of his privilege, it may become public property. The instrument securing this grant is also called a patent. (II) US PATENT AND ITS DURATION A patent for an invention is a grant of property rights by the U.S. Government through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent grant excludes others from making, using, or selling the invention in the United States. A utility or plant patent in force on June 8, 1995, is subject to either the 17 year term from grant or the 20 year term from earliest effective U.S. filing date, whichever is longer. A design patent term is 14 years from patent grant. The right conferred by the patent grant extends throughout the United States. The terms “Patent Pending” and “Patent Applied For” are used to inform the public that an application for a patent has been filed. Patent protection does not start until the actual grant of a patent. Marking of an article as patented, when it is not, is illegal and subject to penalty. A patent cannot be obtained on a mere idea or suggestion. Patent applications are examined for both technical and legal merit. Prior to filing a patent application, a search of existing patents can be conducted at the USPTO Patent Search Room or at a Patent and Trademark Depository Library in your area. For additional information on patents, you may visit the USPTO Web site at www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm. UTILITY PATENT & DESIGN PATENTS A utility patent may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, compositions of matter, or any new useful improvement thereof. A design patent may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. DISCLOSURE DOCUMENTS & PROVISIONAL PATENTS A Disclosure Document is not a patent application, and does not permit the term “Patent Pending” to be applied in connection with the invention. The date of receipt of a Disclosure Document in the USPTO will not become the effective filing date of any patent application subsequently filed. The date of the Disclosure Document’s receipt in the USPTO, however, provides evidence of a date of conception if it is referenced in a related patent application within two years of such receipt. Unlike a Disclosure Document, a provisional application is a patent application, which establishes an official United States patent application filing date for the invention and permits the term “Patent Pending” to be applied in connection with the invention. A foreign application may claim priority to a provisional application, but a disclosure document may not be relied upon for priority. A provisional application automatically becomes abandoned when its pendency expires 12 months after the provisional application filing date by operation of law. Applicants must file a non-provisional application claiming benefit of the earlier provisional application filing date in the USPTO before the provisional application pendency period expires in order to preserve any benefit from the provisional-application filing. FILING AND PROCESSING OF A PATENT Inventors may apply for one of two types of patent applications: (1) A non-provisional application, which begins the examination process and may lead to a patent and (2) A provisional application, which establishes a filing date but does not begin the examination process. Both types of patent applications can be filed either electronically by using the Electronic Filing System (EFS) http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/efs/index.html (for provisional applications, effective January 1, 2002) or in writing to the Commissioner for Patents. You can also request that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) send informational materials providing a broad overview of the process of obtaining a United States patent, including general requirements and a listing of the depository libraries. Currently, the average patent application pendency is 24.6 months. Applications received in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are numbered in sequential order and the applicant will be informed within eight weeks of the application number and official filing date if filed in paper. If filed electronically, the application number is available within minutes. Source: US Patent & Trademark Office at www.uspto.gov