How to Fill Out a Patent Application

Determining Patent Eligibility

• 1). Learn about the three types of patents that are acceptable to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: utility, design and plant patents. Study your invention and see if it fits into the category of utility patent. A utility patent is the most common and must be an invention of practical use and novel, or unique from anything else that came before.
  
  
• 2). Check to see if your invention falls under a design patent. These patents are for inventions that are strictly unique and new designs to existing items that make them more efficient. Examples would be new designs to household utensils or even computer software.
  
  
• 3). Choose a plant patent if you've invented a unique species of plant. These are the least common patents, but will be as strongly considered by a patent examiner as a utility or design patent.
  
  

Searching for Existing Patents

• 1). Search to see if your patent already exists for the product you created. You can search patents back to 1976 on the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office website. Click on "Search" in the Patent box to the left of the main page.
  
  
• 2). Use the USPTO patent search and look up patent applications that give more detail. These are documented back to 2001 and can be printed for free. Add more detailed information in the patent search box and find exact names and titles of inventions going back to 1790.
  
  
• 3). Look for other websites that allow you to look up prior patents to products. Google has a free patent search site that's easy to use and detailed.
  
  

Filling Out a Patent Application

• 1). Go to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's website and print out a copy of their online patent forms. Hire a patent attorney to work with you on filling out the application, since how you word it will be essential in being accepted. Attorneys will have paper copies available of patent forms.
  
  
• 2). Write out the specification of your invention or, collectively, the title, background, summary and description of your product. Make your title short. Show your thorough research skills for the background section by proving how you've improved on an existing product. Describe thoroughly what your invention does in the summary and how it solves a particular problem. Also describe in simple terms how the invention technically works in the description section.
  
  
• 3). Spend extra time working with your attorney filling out the claims section. Here, you'll be writing detailed sentences that list everything about your invention and why it's unique. A patent examiner will take this section the most seriously due to the detail and scrutinize it to the core.
  
  
• 4). Include drawings of your invention with your application. You may have to hire an artist to draw them for you if you have no drawing skills. However, even a simple drawing showing how your invention works is acceptable. Study past patents for the type of invention you have and see how the drawings are formatted.
  
  

Sending, Fees & Waiting

• 1). Make copies of every page on your patent application and keep them on file in the event the application gets lost. Have your lawyer send the completed application to the USPTO by snail mail for you. Staple a stamped, self-addressed postcard onto the first page that indicates everything you sent. The USPTO will stamp it and send it back to you as confirmation they received the application.
  
  
• 2). Send your patent application through the USPTO's electronic filing system on the same page you found the online forms. Be aware, though, you have to convert your files to PDF format before sending.
  
  
• 3). Pay the fees of your patent application. If you filed a patent after 2004, a basic utility patent fee is $165 for one person as of May 2010 and $330 for a company. In total, after paying all fees for various services and your lawyer, it could cost you $10,000 or much more. Pay maintenance fees in future years, depending on the patent you filed. If you're sending a check or money order, mail your application to:
  
  U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  P.O. Box 979070
  St. Louis, MO 63197-9000
  
  
• 4). Wait for a phone call, letter or email from the patent examiner. Chances are good your patent won't be accepted at first due to the patent examiner's scrutiny. Work with the patent examiner on what your patent should cover for your invention. Revisions can take up to three years.