The document summarizes key aspects of United States patent law. It discusses that patents can be obtained for processes, machines, compositions of matter, and some plant varieties. To be patentable, an invention must be novel, non-obvious, and adequately disclosed. There are three main types of patents: utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. The document also outlines the patent application and examination process, requirements for patentability, what constitutes patent infringement, and defenses to infringement allegations.

1. BY
Rahul Mishra
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2. United States Patent Law
 Defnition of Patent-The U.S. Patent Statute states that processes,
machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter are
patentable. This wording appears to cover every useful invention
imaginable.
 The American patent system is authorized by Article One, Section
8(8)of the U.S. Constitution which states:
 The Congress shall have power...To promote the progress of science and
useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the
exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
 In the U.S., a patent is a right to exclude others from making, using,
selling, offering for sale, exporting components to be assembled into an
infringing device outside the U.S
 Patents in the United States are governed by the Patent Act (35 U.S.
Code), which established the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (the USPTO)
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3. Types of Patent
 Design
 A design patent protects the new, original and ornamental design of an article of manufacture.
The ornamental design of an article is its visual appearance, such as the unique shape of a
bottle. Note that only “ornamental” designs are protected. This means that the design being
protected cannot be dictated by the functional aspects of the article.
 A design patent provides protection for fourteen (14) years from the date it issues.
 Plant
 Certain types of plants that have been asexually reproduced are eligible for plant patent
protection. A plant that is asexually reproduced is one that is reproduced by means other than
seeds, such as by the rooting of cuttings, layering, budding, grafting, inarching etc… Other
types of plants that do not qualify for plant patent protection may be eligible for protection
under another set of laws called the Plant Variety Protection Act, or possibly through a utility
patent.
 A plant patent provides protection from the date the patent issues until a date twenty (20) years
after the patent application was filed, assuming all of the required maintenance fees are paid.
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4. Types of Patent
 Utility
 If an invention eligible for patent protection is not just the
ornamental design of an article of manufacture, or an asexually
reproduced plant, then it will be protected by a utility patent.
Utility patents cover numerous types of inventions.
 Everything from simple mechanical devices like a paper clip, to
the most complex electrical circuits found in today’s
supercomputers, to the chemical formulas of prescription drugs,
to biotechnology patents on genetically engineered animals. The
utility patent is by far the most common type of patent.
 A utility patent provides protection from the date the patent
issues until a date twenty (20) years after the patent application
was filed, assuming all of the required maintenance fees are paid.
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5. Requirement for Patent
 Novelty (Newness) Requirement:
 In order for an invention to be patentable, it must be new as defined in
the patent law. This novelty requirement states that an invention
cannot be patented if certain public disclosures of the invention have
been made. The statute which explains when a public disclosure has
been made (35 U.S.C. Section 102) is complicated and often requires a
detailed analysis of the facts and the law. The most important rule,
however, is that an invention will not normally be patentable if:
 the invention was known to the public before it was "invented" by the
individual seeking patent protection;
 the invention was described in a publication more than one year prior
to the filing date; or
 the invention was used publicly, or offered for sale to the public more
than one year prior to the filing date.
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6. Requirement for Patent
 Nonobviousness Requirement: If an invention is not exactly the same
as prior products or processes (which are referred to as the "prior art"),
then it is considered novel.
 However, in order for an invention to be patentable, it must not only
be novel, but it must also be a nonobvious improvement over the prior
art. This determination is made by deciding whether the invention
sought to be patented would have been obvious "to one of ordinary skill
in the art." In other words, the invention is compared to the prior art
and a determination is made whether the differences in the new
invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in
the type of technology used in the invention.
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7. Patent as Property and its Infringement
 Patent as Property- patents are now treated like property rights,
so that they may be sold, licensed, mortgaged, assigned,
transferred, given away, abandoned, actively developed, or held
as investments without being developed.
 Just as there is no legal requirement that owners of real property
develop their vacant land, there is likewise no legal requirement
that patent owners develop their inventions.
 Infringement of Patent: Infringement of a patent is the
unauthorized making, using, or selling of the patented invention
within the territory of the United States, during the term of the
patent.
 If a patent is infringed, the patent holder may sue for relief in
the appropriate Federal court. The patent holder may ask the
court for an injunction to prevent the continued infringement
and may also ask the court for an award of damages..
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8. Patent as Property and its Infringement
 In such an infringement suit, the defendant may question the validity
of the patent, which is then decided by the court. The defendant may
also claim that its actions do not constitute infringement.
 Infringement is determined primarily by the language of the claims of
the patent: if what the defendant is making does not fall within the
language of any of the claims of the patent, there is no infringement
 Suits for infringement of patents follow the rules of procedure of the
Federal courts. From the decision of the district court, there is an
appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Supreme
Court may thereafter take a case by writ of certiorari. If the United
States Government infringes a patent, the patent holder has a remedy
for damages in the United States Claims Court.
 The Government may use any patented invention without permission
of the patent holder, but the patent holder is entitled to obtain
compensation for the use by or for the Government.
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9. Infringement of Patent
 The test of Infringement requires that the infringing party's product
(or method, service, and so on) falls within one or more of
the claims of the patent.
 Claims of Patent- Patent claims are the part of a patent or patent
application that defines the scope of protection granted by the
patent. The claims define, in technical terms, the extent of the
protection conferred by a patent, or the protection sought in a
patent application. The claims are of the utmost importance both
during prosecution and litigation
 For instance, a claim could read-:
"A chemical composition for cleaning windows, said composition
comprising 10–15% ammonia, ..."
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10. Response of Infringement
In response to allegations of infringement, an accused infringing party
will generally assert one or more of the following:
 it was not practicing the patented invention;
 it was not performing any infringing act in the territory covered by the
patent;
 the patent has expired;
 the patent (or the particular claim(s) alleged to be infringed) is invalid,
because the invention in question does not meet patentability or
includes a formal defect, rendering the patent invalid or unenforceable;
 it has obtained a license under the patent;
 the patent holder is infringing patent rights belonging to the accused
infringing party, and the party may resolve the dispute in settlement
or cross-licensing.
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11. Examination of Patent
 EXAMINATION OF PATENT- The basic process of examining an application
includes the following activities: (1) The examiner must read and
understand the claims that define what the applicant views as the
invention and the supporting disclosure; (2) the examiner must search
the prior art—prior patents, foreign patents and documents, and
scientific or technical literature (referred to as nonpatent literature
[NPL])—and analyze the references that are most relevant to the
claimed invention; (3) based on what the examiner finds, he or she
decides whether or not each claim meets the requirements for a patent
as codified in the patent statutes. After the examiner has examined
patent with respect to the above areas, he will issue a first office
action. The first office action can be either an allowance or, as is more
often the case, a rejection of claims. An allowance means that you will
have a patent after paying an issue fee.
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12. Rejection of Patent
 The communication rejecting the claims is sent to the
applicant’s legal representative who will then respond to
the examiner by amending the claims, producing evidence
that contradicts the rejection, and/or arguing that the
rejection is improper.
 Once the examiner receives the response from the
applicant’s representative, he or she reevaluates the claims
in view of the totality of old and new evidence and
arguments. If the claims are still deemed unpatentable, one
or more of the rejections against them are maintained and
made Final, which closes prosecution on those claims.
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13. Rejection of Patent
 The applicant is entitled to request reconsideration of a Final
rejection based only on evidence of record or evidence that could
not have been submitted earlier.
 The applicant is also entitled to appeal the Final rejection to the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.
 If the applicant appeals, the examiner will respond to the
applicant’s Brief on Appeal by writing an Examiner’s Answer,
which explains to the Board why the examiner thinks the
rejections are proper and should stand in the face of any
arguments or evidence submitted by the applicant. Because of
time periods allocated to allow the examiner and applicant’s
attorney to prepare actions and responses, the examination
process generally occurs over the space of a year or more from the
time the examiner first picks up the application.
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14. Some Important Points For Patent
 Under United States law it is the inventor(s) who initially owns the right to file
an application for, and receive, a U.S. patent. The inventor(s) can assign their
rights to file a patent application and receive a patent to someone else, such as
their employer.
 If there is more than one inventor (in other words there are co-inventors), then
each co-inventor is a joint owner of the patent. In the absence of any agreement
to the contrary, each of the joint owners of a patent may make and sell the
invention, without the consent of and without accounting to the other owners.
For this reason, there should be a written agreement between co-inventors as to
ownership and control of the invention.
 Expense in patent is generally made up of Patent Office filing and issuance
fees, patent drawing expenses, and patent attorney expenses. Exactly how
much it costs depends upon the particular invention, the area of technology,
and the type of patent being sought.
 A U.S. patent is only good in the United States. For exclusive rights in other
countries to make and sell an invention, then you will need to separately seek
patent protection in such countries. While there are treaties between countries
to facilitate this,.
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15. Recent changes In U.S Patent Law
 Since the incepticption of patent laws in keeping with the Constitution, the
U.S. Congress implemented these protections as a "first to invent" system. This
type of system was markedly different from other national patent laws: the
person determined to be the first inventor was deemed the actual inventor
regardless of who happened to file first.
 However on September 16, 2011, the 112th Congress replaced the "first to
invent" system with the "first inventor to file" system through the enactment of
the Leahy-Smith America Invents Acton September 16, 2011. This new system is
to be fully implemented by March 2013. The provisions of the law are laid out
in Title 35 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) and give authority for the United
States Patent and Trademark Office
 The goal of this revision has been stated to be the harmonization of U.S. law
with other countries' patent law
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16.  By Rahul Mihsra
 Comments invited on-rahullawdu@rediffmail.com
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