An issued patent allows one to exclude others from making, using or selling an invention or design protected by the patent. Two types of patents can be obtained from the U.S. Patent Office, Utility Patents and Design Patents.   In general, Utility Patents protect functional aspects of an invention, and Design Patents protect the visual appearance of an article.

To obtain a patent, a formally prepared application must first be filed, beginning a process of “patent prosecution”. During prosecution of the patent application, the application is studied by a Patent Office Examiner who has the responsibility of determining whether the application should issue as a patent.   No protection is afforded the invention until and unless a patent issues from the filed application.   Typically, the application prosecution process involves significant correspondence between the inventor’s attorney and the Patent Office Examiner.

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