Email: omalley@msoe.edu
Phone:414-277-7115
Office: Walter Schroeder Library L201
If you're an instructor looking to set up a library searching session or specialized class please let me know. I'd be happy to work with you!
Intellectual Property (IP)- creative works or ideas embodied in a form that can be shared or enable others to recreate, emulate, or manufacture them.
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade secrets are all different types of IP. If you're unsure of how to identify the correct type of IP for you - click this link to be taken to the USPTO'S IP Identifier page.
"Prior Art" - is a catch all term for patent details & information that is publicly available before you have submitted your own application. You need to search prior art to establish that your invention is new and novel.
"New, useful, Non-obvious" - These are the parameters set by the USPTO to describe what is patentable. "New" describes an invention or design concept that has not been seen before. "Useful" means that the patent is going to be put on the market for people to use (you cannot patent something if you're not going to use it in the real world). Non-obvious is the most challenging criteria to understand. "Non-obvious" means that if a person with ordinary skills in a relevant field is able to make the invention on their own with no help - the design of the patent is obvious and cannot be patented. Judgement of obviousness is done by a USPTO representative. An example of something obvious would be changes to the color or size of an object.
A Patent is a legal document giving the owner a set of exclusive rights to their invention for a set period of time.
According to the USPTO: "A U.S. patent gives you, the inventor, the right to “exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” an invention or “importing” it into the U.S. A plant patent gives you additional rights on the “parts” of plants (e.g., a plant patent on an apple variety would include rights on the apples from the plant variety). What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import the invention, but the right to stop others from doing so. If someone infringes on your patent, you may initiate legal action. U.S. patents are effective only within the U.S. and its territories and possessions."
There are 3 different types of Patents - each with their own unique set of guidelines and parameters. The definitions below are sourced directly from the USPTO.
Utility: for inventing a new or improved and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter. - These are the most common types of patents. Utility patent numbers are 100% numerical: 7,156,934
Design: for inventing a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. Design patent numbers have the letter D before the number: D369,956
Plant: for inventing or discovering and asexually reproducing any distinct and new variety of plant. Plant patent numbers have the letters PP before the number: PP06,70
*All numbers are examples and may or may not reference any real world patents
A utility patent may cover “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.”
A design patent may cover “any new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture,".
A plant patent may cover a “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,” invented or discovered and asexually reproduced.
You CANNOT patent anything that doesn't fall within the "new, useful, and nonobvious" parameters, things like a Law of Nature (ie. Gravity), and/or inventions that have not been previously patented but have been in the public domain for more than a year.
Applying for a patent can vary slightly depending on what type of patent you're seeking. You want to begin with a search for Prior Art.
A prior art search involves looking for patents, granted and in-process, that may be similar or the same as your patent idea. If someone else has already claimed your idea (even if its in the process of being granted) - you will not be granted the patent. A patent search can be done on your own or can be performed by a patent attorney. You may want to hire a patent attorney for assistance with searching prior art, filling out forms, and/ or navigating the patent process, though this is not a requirement.
Each type of patent has a form that needs to be filled out as well as fees associated with filing. For more information on forms, fees, and how to submit each of those please follow this link to the USPTO Patent filing page.
| Utility | 20 years | Starts the date the first non-provisional application for patent was filed. |
| Design | 15 years | Starts the date of grant. |
| Plant | 20 years | Starts the date the first non-provisional application for patent was filed. |
Please note that fees are associated with filling and maintaining a patent. The fee schedule often changes rates depending on your filing status and/or by the USPTO themselves. Please see the USPTO fee schedule for the most current information.
If you have suggestions for how to make this page better, please contact Elizabeth Jerow, Library Director (jerow@msoe.edu).
