Who Approves a Patent?

When you try to patent your invention, it must meet certain criteria. You may be wondering, however, who determines whether or not your invention meets these criteria. These are the people that you must prove your invention to, after all.

The Constitution of the United States give Congress powers to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.” Because of this, Congress created the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO.

The USPTO is in cooperation with the European Paten Office, or EPO, and the Japan Patent Office, or JPO. These three patent offices are called the Trilateral Patent Offices. This makes patents applicable on a nearly global scale instead of being enforceable only in the United States.

In 2007, the USPTO consisted of 8,913 employees, 5,477 of which were patent examiners, and 404 of them were trademark examining attorneys. The other 3,032 employees were support staff. However, these numbers are quickly growing. The USPTO expects to hire around 1,200 employees per year from 2008 to 2012.

The 5,477 patent examiners are mostly engineers and scientists who do not have law degrees or legal backgrounds. This allows them to focus on whether or not the invention is useful, and applicable in the industry that it comes from. Trademark examiners, on the other hand, must be licensed attorneys. These attorneys work under a strict quota system.

Ultimately, the USPTO is the entity that will decide whether or not you can patent your invention.

Speak with a Patent Litigation Attorney

If you would like to know more about the USPTO or the patenting process, contact the patent litigation attorneys of Williams Kherkher at 800.761.3187.