There are two main types of patents issued by the United States Patent Trademark Office: utility patents and design patents.
Utility Patents
A utility patent protects the function of an invention. Utility patents are granted for any new, useful and non-obvious process, machine, manufactured article, composition of matter, or any new and useful improvements to any of these types of inventions. The term of a utility patent is 20 years from the date of filing. Utility patents are usually more desirable than design patents. We have a chart that illustrates the Typical Utility Patent Application Process. Design Patents
A design patent protects the overall appearance of an invention and is granted for any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. The term of a design patent is 14 years from the date of issuance. A design patent should only be chosen if the appearance of the invention is important, otherwise utility patent protection should be sought.Should You Patent?
Before seeking patent protection, you should first determine whether your invention is potentially marketable. If your invention is not marketable you do not need patent protection. When determining whether your invention is marketable, you should determine if another company would be able to profit from your invention not only today, but also in the future. If so, patent protection should be sought so that the company would have to license the invention from you.What is Not Patentable
An inventor cannot receive a patent for perpetual motion devices, abstract ideas, laws of nature, or naturally occurring substances. An inventor cannot receive a United States patent for an invention publicly disclosed more than 12 months ago.You do not need a prototype, but I cannot think of any disadvantages of having one. The law requires that you establish that you have "enabled" the invention (i.e., that it really works). Your patent application must disclose your invention with sufficient specificity to permit someone of ordinary skill in the art to practice your invention without undue experimentation. Sometimes, it is not possible to meet this "enablement" requirement without having a prototype in hand. Other times you can satisfy the "enablement" requirement with a "prophetic" or "paper" example. Each situation must be evaluated on its own merit.
