Obtaining a patent can be a long and arduous process. The typical pendency of a patent is about 3.5 years. However, it can take many years more than that if your invention is in a crowded technology area.
The patenting process in the US generally goes something like:
The patenting process in the US generally goes something like:
- File a patent application in the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
- Receive the first communication from the patent office within about 14 months. The first communication is typically a rejection.
- Respond to the rejection with arguments about why your patent application should be allowed. This response should be filed within 3 months or you will have to pay fees. If you do not respond your patent will go abandoned.
- Receive a second communication from the patent office within 3 months which is usually another rejection and which closes examination.
- At this point the patent office is finished examining your patent application. If you do not want to abandon (which is usually not a good idea at this phase), you must file a request to continue prosecution within 3 months (fees or abandonment will occur with delays so file on time). Arguments about why your patent should be allowed should be supplied along with the request to continue prosecution.
- The next communication from the patent office may not arrive for a year.
- At this point prosecution is re-opened and the cycle repeats itself until the patent examiner decides that your claimed invention is novel and non-obvious and should be allowed. This cycle may repeat several times which is why the patenting process can take so long.
- There are ways to speed the process up such as filing a Track One application for additional fees, strategically conducting prosecution and taking advantage of examiner interviews, and/or filing a request to accelerate prosecution if qualified. None of these guarantee allowance of your application.
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