patent office
Where inventors file
A patent office is a government agency that examines applications for patents and grants them to inventors whose work meets legal standards of novelty and usefulness.
In the United States, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) handles this function: She worked as an examiner at the patent office for twenty years.
- prior artPre-existing technical knowledge
- USPTOFederal intellectual property agency
- intellectual property lawLegal protection for creations
- claimsStatements of truth
- pendencyState awaiting determination
filing fees · licensing agreements · non-disclosure agreement · invention · intellectual property · copyright · monopoly · protection · registration · rejection · fees · paperwork · trademark · bureaucracy · attorney · license · stamps · innovation
- IP OrganizationsUSPTO, EPO, appeals board
- Patent Terms
- scientific progressinventions, scientific expeditions, natural history, geology, botany
- American InnovationEdison, Thomas Edison, Bell Labs, Silicon Valley, Wright brothers
- EinsteinE=mc2, relativity, general relativity, special relativity, physics
- federal servicesSocial Security, Medicare, IRS, USPS, postal service
intellectual property protection vs. public domain
patent officepublic domain
Unprotected creative works
legal protection vs. infringement/piracy
patent officepatent troll
Entity monetizing dormant intellectual property