What are three types of patents
1) Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof;
2) Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; and
The patent laws provide for the granting of design patents to any person who has invented any new, original, and nonobvious ornamental design for an article of manufacture. The design patent protects only the appearance of an article, but not its structural or functional features.
A design patent has a term of 14 years from grant, and no fees are necessary to maintain a design patent in force. The specification of a design application is short and ordinarily follows a set form. Only one claim is permitted, following a set form that refers to the drawing(s).
3) Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.
The law also provides for the granting of a patent to anyone who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced any distinct and new variety of plant, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber-propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.
Contact Beem Patent Law Firm for information on how the Firm can be of assistance to you in your patent matter.
Some of the information provided herein was obtained from the United States Patent and Trademark website, www.uspto.gov. For further information, see the Patent Office inventor resources at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/index.htm.
