U.S. patents give an inventor exclusive rights on the invention. The exclusive rights will prevent others to make, use, import, sell or offer to sell the invention without the inventor’s permission. In exchange for this grant, the inventors must disclose their invention to the public in the form of a patent application. U.S. patents do not grant inventors the right to make, use, sell, or import their inventions -- only to exclude others from doing so.

U.S. patents can be obtained on "inventions". Inventions include any new and useful machine, process, article of manufacture, composition of matter (such as a new chemical composition), and improvements on any of these things. Virtually anything that is new and made by man is subject matter eligible for patent protection.

There are three types of U.S. patents granted by the U.S. patents office, these are: utility patents, design patents and plant patents. There are specific requirements for the U.S. patents applications. U.S. patents application must include a specification, including a description and claim(s); an oath or declaration identifying the applicant(s) believing to be the original inventor(s); a drawing when necessary; and the filing fee. Prior to 1870, a model of the invention was required as well. Today, a model is almost never required. To be patentable, an invention essentially must be: (1) useful, (2) novel, and (3) nonobvious. The novelty requirement is often consider the entry test for patentability.

Application for US patents must be filed within one year of the date the invention is first publicly disclosed or offered for sale. If the application for US patents is not filed within this one year period, the patent rights are forever dedicated to the public. To preserve the opportunity to obtain foreign patents, a patent application should be filed in the US Patent Office before making any public disclosures.

Patent search is an important phase all applications for U.S. Patents undergo. In this stage, applications must furnish proof that the invention is patentable. Inventors can make a search of patents already granted, text books, journals and other publications to be sure that someone else has not already invented their idea. They may hire someone to do it for them or may do the search themselves at the Public Search Room of the US Patent and Trademark Office in Arlington, Virginia, on the PTO web page on the Internet, or at one of the U.S. Patents and Trademark Depository Libraries across the country.