Applying in the United States

• The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the Department of Commerce that oversees the application process to grant patents, as well as registers trademarks, serves as a source of information about intellectual property and keeps public records of which patents have been granted. The Patent Office only grants patents to inventions that are significantly different from those covered by previous patents, which is something that you should research before applying.
  
  The U.S. Patent Office offers three categories of patents: utility patents, design patents and plant patents. Utility patents cover the discovery and invention of any new processes, machines, manufactured articles or compositions of matter and improvements of them. Design patents cover new designs of manufactured articles. Plant patents cover newly discovered or invented varieties of plants.
  
  These patents enable inventors and companies to stop others from manufacturing the patented invention. Patents also prevent others from importing the invention into the United States generally for a period of 20 years, though there are occasional extensions and provisional, one-year patents available for utility and plant inventions. There are separate applications for each category of patent and for provisional and nonprovisional patents.
  
  Intellectual property rights are handled on a national level, so a U.S. patent doesn't protect against activities in other countries, which have their own patent laws and applications. In Canada, for example, patents are overseen by The Canadian Intellectual Property Office and also protect work for 20 years. Though a U.S. patent may suffice for ensuring the financial profitability of an invention, international patents may be beneficial.
  
  

Hiring a Professional

• The patent application process is long and complicated. Though the U.S. Patent Office has detailed information about what needs to be included in the application, the amount may be overwhelming. Research into other patents that have been granted and small details of the patent application can prove vital in showing the differences that make an invention patentable and in enforcing the patent if others copy the invention. The Patent Office's response may also require an appeal. Those seeking patents should hire professionals to work with them, at least to review their draft of the application.