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Small Business Patent Process

uspto.gov, Jan 09, 2006

Before you file for a patent, you should determine if your invention can be patented:

An invention cannot be patented if "(a) the invention was known or used by others in this country, or patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent," or "(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country more than one year prior to the application for patent in the United States…"

Even if the subject matter sought to be patented is not exactly shown by the prior art, and involves one or more differences over the most nearly similar thing already known, a patent may still be refused if the differences would be obvious. The subject matter sought to be patented must be sufficiently different from what has been used or described before that it may be said to be non-obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the area of technology related to the invention. For example, the substitution of one color for another, or changes in size, are ordinarily not patentable.

The patent law specifies that the subject matter must be "useful." The term "useful" in this connection refers to the condition that the subject matter has a useful purpose and also includes operativeness, that is, a machine which will not operate to perform the intended purpose would not be called useful, and therefore would not be granted a patent.

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Did You Know?

The amount of small businesses in the United States is growing.

Since 1980, there has been a 54 percent increase of small businesses in the US. This includes sole proprietorships, corporations, and partnerships.

In the 20th century, small businesses have developed some of the many necessary innovations we rely on.

This includes the helicopter, zipper, and the personal computer. Additionally, the pacemaker, artifical heart valve, and insulin have been developed by small businesses as well. This just shows how powerful a small business can really be!

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