U.S. patent for an invention is issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  Patent is a kind of property right to the inventor and is “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States.  To get a U.S. patent, an application must be filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

A patent can be granted to the product itself, the utility of a product or design.  A utility patent may be granted to “anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or compositions of matters, or any new useful improvement thereof” whereas a design patent is granted to “anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.”  Applicants can file a patent application electronically through EFS-Web, the USPTO’s electronic filing system for patent applications, to submit utility patent applications, provisional applications, and design applications with color drawings, among other things.