• Patent your idea.light bulb image by cherie from Fotolia.com
  
  A patent is a legal document issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The owner of the patent has the exclusive right to produce, use and/or sell the patented idea or invention. A patent only lasts for a certain amount of time, and then the invention becomes available for common usage. Design patents last for 14 years, while plant and utility patents last for 20 years.
  
  The process for obtaining a patent application is governed by strict legal and regulatory requirements. The PTO is in charge of processing applications and then, if the application is complete, issuing the patent. The patent application process can be lengthy and sometimes complex.
  
  

Submit an Application

• The first step in the patent application process is to submit a formal application to the PTO. A complete application typically includes an information disclosure statement, patent specifications, the patent claims, all drawings that are necessary to explain the specifications and claims, a declaration and a filing fee. If you are a small inventor with little access to capital, you can apply for a waiver of the application fee.
  
  

Patent Examiner

• Upon submission of your application, the PTO will assign a patent examiner to review your application. This process can take up to 6 months or more. Most likely, the patent examiner will contact you to discuss any necessary amendments, updates or revisions to your patent application. Likely, the patent examiner will ask you to amend one or more of your patent claims in order to ensure the patent claim is unique enough to qualify for a patent.
  
  

Publication

• After you satisfy all the demands of your patent examiner, the PTO will then publish your patent application. In legal jargon, the PTO "allows" the application. All this means is that a summary of the application will be published in the PTO's weekly Internet publication called the Official Gazette. The purpose of publication is to allow other inventors to review your patent idea and, if they think the idea is not unique enough to justify a patent, they can object to the patent.
  
  

Patent Deed

• Assuming nobody objects, or if they do object, you are able to work around the objections (sometimes involving expensive litigation), the PTO will then issue you a patent deed. The patent deed is the official, legal document that verifies that you have a patent on your idea.