This document provides an orientation to United States utility patents, including: - A brief history of patents in the US dating back to the 1600s and key patent acts. - An overview of the three branches of government that are involved in patent law: the executive (USPTO), legislative (Congress), and judicial branches (Federal Circuit and district courts). - An explanation that a utility patent provides the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling or importing the patented invention for up to 20 years.