A utility patent is granted to the inventor or discoverer of any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. A utility patent is the most common type of patent issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

A design patent is granted to any person who has invented any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. The design patent protects only the appearance of an article, and not its structure or utilitarian features. A design patent has a term of 14 years from the grant and no fees are necessary to maintain a design patent in force.

A plant patent is granted to anyone who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced any distinct and new variety of plants, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber-propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.

When a patent is defective in certain aspects, the law provides that the patent owner may apply for a reissue patent. That is, a patent is granted to replace the original utility, design, or plant patent, and is granted only for the balance of the unexpired term. However, the nature of the changes that can be made by a reissue patent are rather limited; new matter cannot be added.

Any person may file a request for re-examination of a patent, along with the required fee, on the basis of prior art consisting of patents or printed publications. At the conclusion of the re-examination proceedings, a certificate setting forth the results of the proceedings is issued. A copy of the patent is included with the certificate.

Applicants of pending patent applications may request that the specification and drawings of their applications be published as statutory invention registration (SIR) under 37 CFR 1.293. The right to a patent is waived upon publication of the SIR.

The Defensive Publication Program, set forth in 37 CFR 1.139, provided for the publication of the abstract of the technical disclosure of a pending application, if the applicant waived his or her rights to an enforceable patent. Defensive publication registrations were published beginning November 5, 1968. Effective May 8, 1985, in view of the applicant's ability to obtain a statutory invention registration, this rule was removed.

A presentation patent is a certified copy of the first page of an issued patent. The document is photocopied onto 24 lb. card stock, has a unique certification statement with a special ribbon and seal, and is suitable for framing and display.

A patent abstract of title is a chronological account of the documents recorded in the USPTO assignment records for a patent.

A patent is an intellectual property and may be sold to others, mortgaged, bequeathed by a will, or passed to the heirs of a deceased patent owner. Patent law provides for the transfer or sale of a patent (or patent application) by an instrument in writing referred to as an assignment. When an assignment transfers ownership to an individual, that individual becomes the owner of the patent (or patent application) and has the same rights as the original owner.

•   Patent assignments can only be ordered by their 10-digit reel and frame number. The reel and frame for published applications or patents can be determined by searching Assignments on the Web. If you are unable to find the reel and frame, you cannot order the assignment online, and will need to contact us  There will be an additional $40 per hour fee for a reel and frame search.

•   The patent assignment does not include the recordation notice. To order a copy of the recordation notice, please contact Customer Service. 800-741-3117  or email:Orders@patentvendordatabase.com

A patent application publication (PAP), also known as a pre-grant publication (Pg-Pub), is the publication of a non-provisional pending utility or plant application (not a reissue application) that has been published under the eighteen-month publication provisions of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA)(P.L. 106-113). PAPs were published beginning March 15, 2001.

A non-provisional application for a patent includes a written document disclosing the invention, which comprises a specification (description and claims), and an oath or declaration; and a drawing in those cases in which a drawing is necessary; and the filing fee.

A provisional application provides the means to establish an early effective filing date in a patent application and permits the term "Patent Pending" to be applied in connection with the invention. Claims and oath or declaration are not required for a provisional application. Provisional applications may not be filed for design inventions.

Note: Applications filed on paper are scanned upon receipt and copies are produced from the scanned images. Copies of applications that have not been issued or published are not available to the general public or open for public inspection; and no information or copies may be obtained without the written consent of the applicant, attorney of record, or the assignee. Contact Customer Service if you wish to order a patent application that has not been published or issued. Documented entitlement or a power to inspect must accompany your request. Documents requiring entitlement may only be ordered by mail or fax at this time.t

Search PAIR for publically available patent applications. Uncertified copies may be viewed and/or downloaded to your computer.

The patent file wrapper contains the prosecution history of the application, from its filing to the granting of the patent. File Wrappers contain application papers, all Office Actions, as well as correspondence from the applicant/attorney of record.

Note: Papers in a file wrapper are scanned and copies are produced from the scanned images. Copies of papers from a patent file wrapper that have not been issued or published are not available to the general public or open for public inspection; and no information or copies may be obtained without the written consent of the applicant, attorney of record, or the assignee. Information in file wrappers for published patent application documents may be redacted. Contact Customer Service if you wish to order a selected paper that has not been published or issued. Documented entitlement or a power to inspect must accompany your request. Documents requiring entitlement may only be ordered by mail or fax at this time.

Search PAIR for publically available patent file wrappers. View the contents of the file wrapper by clicking on the Image File Wrapper tab. If the tab is not displayed (i.e., a paper document) then view the transaction history to obtain the dates and titles of the papers.