The following two sections provides a brief history and introduction to patents:
The U.S. patent laws have their roots in one of our most precious and revered documents ever written - the United States Constitution.
Congress enacted the U.S. patent laws under its Constitutional grant of authority to protect the discoveries of inventors.
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a federal intellectual property power was proposed by Charles Pinkney and James Madison, and adopted as the Article I, section 8, clause 8 of the United States Constitution, which states:
“The Congress shall have the power to... promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries...”
President George Washington signed the first Patent Act of the United States into law on April 10, 1790. However, the existence of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which is the agency that grants U.S. patents, only dates from 1802.
The very first U.S. patent was issued on July 31, 1790 to Samual Hopkins of Philadelphia. The patent was signed by President George Washington, Attorney General Edmund Randolph, and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.
However, it was not until 1836 when the Patent Office thought of numbering the patents starting from number “1.” Therefore, the U.S. patent 1 was issued on July 13, 1836 to Mr. J. Ruggles, after 46 years!
Title 35 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) constitutes the patent laws, which governs all cases in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and specifies the general field of subject matter that can be patented and the conditions under which a patent may be obtained.1
Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) constitutes the patent rules, which are codified general and permanent rules that aid in implement the patent laws. Patent rules may be thought of as "mechanisms" by which a law is executed.
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to inventors, and secures for a limited times the exclusive right to their inventions.2
The rights of a patent exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, and selling the invention throughout the United States and importing the invention into the United States and its territories and possessions.2
This allows inventors a monopoly for a limited time to produce and market their inventions to make a profit.
The Patent Law Agency has successfully prepared and prosecuted utility and design patents, including international patents under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Utility patents may be granted to whoever that invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or compositions of matters, or any new and useful improvement thereof.3
In general, a utility patent may be file as a provisional, nonprovisional, or an international patent application (PCT).
Design patents may be granted to whoever that invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.4 (Common, exemplary candidates for design patents are designs for articles of jewelry.)
The Patent Law Agency provides the following services:
Please feel free to contact us by calling 1-818-248-1465 for further details regarding patents, our fees, or if you have any additional questions or comments.
The Patent Law Agency provides FREE initial consultation to all inventors!
Our FREE Initial consultation includes an invention disclosure session (usually about one to four hours or more of discussion) with inventors to understand their invention and to answer general questions they may have about us or patents.
Inventors will not be obligated for any legal fees or even the continued use of our services!
Non-local inventors will be billed for costs and expenses such as for example long-distance travel or telephone. However, the actual time spent meeting will continue to be FREE of any charges!
Non-local inventors are those that reside more than 100 miles away from our Glendale, CA office.
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