Patents
Do You Need a Patent?
Five key types of creative property can be patented. If you want to protect your intellectual property in any of the forms below, you need a patent.
Processes
Many tasks and goals require careful processes to achieve a satisfactory result. If you designed an industrial, technical, or other process you wish to protect, a patent is the right option.
Machines
The thing most of us imagine when we think of things that can be patented, machines, including engines, tools, and appliances, can each be patented to protect your rights to the design.
Manufactures
In essence, you can think of manufactures as a fancy word for invented objects that are not machines. This can include things like bathtubs, chairs, lightbulbs, and other designed items.
Compositions
Compositions are booming in today’s patent landscape, with new drugs, alloys, and materials coming to market. Compositions include new chemical compounds and molecules.
Plants
For those unfamiliar with the work that goes into cultivating a specific strain of flora, it may seem strange that plants can be patented. If you derived a new, useful type of plant, you deserve protection.
Improvements
In addition to wholly new and unique inventions, patents may also be provided for significant new improvements to existing designs and compounds. Get protection for your bright idea.
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Why Get a Patent?
A patent is a form of intellectual property that grants inventors exclusive rights to their inventions for a limited period, typically 20 years from the filing date. This exclusivity allows inventors to prevent others from making, using, or selling their invention without permission. Patents are crucial for fostering innovation by providing inventors with the incentive to disclose their creations to the public in exchange for these exclusive rights.
Types of Patents
Utility Patents
These cover new and useful processes, machines, articles of manufacture, or compositions of matter. They are the most common type of patent.
Design Patents
Design patents protect new, original, and ornamental designs for an article of manufacture, with the focus being on appearance, not function.
Plant Patents
As you might expect, plant patents are granted to new and distinct varieties of plants, protecting cultivators’ rights to grow and sell the plant.
Our Patent Process
If you’ve created something novel, non-obvious, and useful, you may be eligible to patent that creation.
Now that you have your creation, you want to make sure it stays yours. Reach out for our assistance.
After a careful discussion with you and research to ensure patentability, we’ll begin preparing the patent.
We’ll submit a detailed application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), including descriptions and drawings.
Your patent application will be reviewed by an examiner with the USPTO to ensure that it meets the necessary criteria.
If you are approved, you will receive exclusive rights to your creation for the duration of the patent.
Our Successful Registration
We have successfully assisted a wide variety of creators with protecting their intellectual property. You can learn more about some of our work below.
Our Patent Professionals
At the Law Office of Darryl E. Scott, we bring more than 30 years of combined experience in law, backed by advanced degrees in engineering, information technology, pharmacy, and biochemistry. Learn more about our patent team below.
Bachelor of Science in Engineering
Minor in Information Technology
Post-Graduate Training in Molecular Biotechnology
Background in Life Sciences
Patent FAQs
Patent approval depends on the invention, the prior art, and the quality of the application. While no one can guarantee approval, we help clients assess patentability risks, identify strong claim strategies, and prepare applications designed to give the invention a meaningful path toward allowance.
Here at Darryl Scott Law, we charge a flat fee for our patent services. For more information, you can reach out to our team.
Once a patent application has been filed, you may begin marketing or commercializing your invention without necessarily waiting for a patent to issue. We help clients consider filing strategy, disclosure risks, and business goals before moving forward.
You do not need to manufacture your invention before filing a patent application. However, the invention should be developed in enough detail that a person skilled in the relevant technology could make and use it based on the disclosure. We help clients evaluate whether an invention is sufficiently developed for patent filing and identify additional details that may strengthen the application.
Software-related inventions may be eligible for patent protection when they provide a technical solution, improve computer functionality, or are tied to a practical system, device, or process. We help clients evaluate software-based inventions and develop patent strategies focused on technical features, implementation details, and commercially meaningful protection.
Utility and plant patents generally have a term of up to 20 years from the filing date of the first non-provisional application. Design patents generally have a term of 15 years from the date of grant. Patent terms may be affected by maintenance fees, terminal disclaimers, patent term adjustment, or other circumstances.
Foreign patent protection can be costly, so strategy matters. A PCT application may provide additional time to evaluate key markets before entering selected countries. We help clients consider target markets, filing deadlines, budget, and commercialization timelines when developing an international patent strategy.
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Our patent professionals are ready to help you protect your IP. Reach out today to get started.
