Patent Types in the US and Abroad

The United States and most other countries offer different types of patents. In the US, we differentiate between utility patents and design patents. Utility patents protect the functional and structural aspects of the invention, or what makes the invention tick. They require the patentee (you) to fully disclose the operation of the
invention in a manner that will allow a person with average skill in the pertaining art to make the invention. Utility patents provide protection for the essence of the invention that makes it work.

Design patents are a different type of patent, designed to protect the esthetical design of a product. A good example for a design patent candidate is the shape of shoe, or a Coca-Cola bottle. Design patents are applicable to software mainly as they relate to protecting screens and icons. Design patents are mostly valuable once your name is known throughout your market and your competitors attempt to imitate you by look-alike appearance. Unlike copyrights, design patents are more immune to copying with minor changes and only require the patentee to provide the visual depiction of the design. Like any patent, however, there are novelty requirements to be met and therefore you cannot wait until the time the issue becomes a problem. If you believe your screens and icons may become a target of infringement â€“ start patenting them as soon as possible.

Design patents cost significantly less than utility patents, but are no substitute for them. The functionality of an invention may only be well protected by a utility patent.
Recently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has allowed inventors to file a new type of patent application known as a provisional patent application. A provisional application is not AND NEVER CAN BE a patent. It can only be an application. The provisional application is somewhat simpler in form than a non-provisional patent application, but still presents exacting demands in order to be useful. A provisional application lives for only one year and is not examined by the patent office. At the end of the year, the material in it may be used as a basis for a non-provisional application. The principle use of the provisional application is to gain a â€˜filing dateâ€™, a crucial date that can make or break a patent. The provisional application has to provide complete support for claims to be made later in the non-provisional application.

A provisional patent application, while preserving the filing date, tends to delay the issuance of a patent for an invention. Since a patent can only be enforced after it issues, filing a provisional application in software or other high-tech fields is of limited value in most cases. Due to the fast pace in which the industry moves, the patenteeâ€™s interest lies in achieving patent protection as soon as possible. Provisional patents, however, provide a good solution in certain cases.