United States Patent and Trademark Office 218363 224977034 2008-07-11T07:44:23Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other [[Image:US-PatentTrademarkOffice-Seal.svg|right|150px|Official seal of the USPTO]] The '''United States Patent and Trademark Office''' ('''PTO''' or '''USPTO''') is an agency in the [[United States Department of Commerce]] that issues [[patent]]s to [[inventor]]s and businesses for their inventions, and [[trademark]] registration for product and [[intellectual property]] identification. The USPTO is currently based in [[Alexandria, Virginia]], after a 2006 move from the [[Crystal City, Virginia|Crystal City]] area of [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington, Virginia]]. A few offices remain in the Potomac Gateway complex at the southern end of Crystal City; these offices will move to Randolph Sqaure, a brand new building in [[Shirlington Village]], in 2009. Since 1991, the office has been fully funded by fees charged for processing patents and trademarks. The current head of the USPTO is [[Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property]] [[Jon Dudas|Jon W. Dudas]], who was nominated to the position by President George W. Bush in March 2004 and was then appointed on [[July 30]], [[2004]]. [[Image:Usptojamesmadisonbuildingsouthside.jpg|thumb|right|275px|PTO headquarters in Alexandria]] The USPTO cooperates with the [[European Patent Office]] (EPO) and the [[Japan Patent Office]] (JPO) as one of the [[Trilateral Patent Offices]]. The USPTO is also a Receiving Office, an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examination Authority for international patent applications filed in accordance with the [[Patent Cooperation Treaty]]. ==Mission== The mission of the PTO is to promote "industrial and technological progress in the [[United States]] and strengthen the national economy" by: * administering the laws relating to patents and trademarks; * advising the [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]], the [[President of the United States]], and the administration on patent, trademark, and [[copyright]] protection; and * providing advice on the trade-related aspects of [[intellectual property]]. ==Structure== As of [[September 30]] [[2007]], the end of the U.S. government's fiscal year, the PTO had 8,913 employees, nearly all of whom are based at its huge five-building headquarters complex in Alexandria. Of those, 5,477 were [[patent examiner]]s and 404 were [[trademark examiner]]s; the rest are support staff.<ref name="USPTO 2007">[http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual/2007/2007annualreport.pdf USPTO Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2007]</ref> The total employee count has risen from 8,189 at the end of fiscal year 2006; at the same time, there were 4,883 patent examiners and 413 trademark examiners. <ref name="USPTO 2006">[http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual/2006/50328_table28.html USPTO Performance and Accountability Report Fiscal Year 2006]</ref> Patent examiners are generally scientists and engineers who do not necessarily hold law degrees, while all trademark examiners must be licensed attorneys. All examiners work under a strict quota system. In recent years, the USPTO has seen increasing delays between when a patent application is filed and when it issues. To address its workload challenges, the USPTO has undertaken an aggressive program of hiring and recruitment. In Fiscal Year 2006 (year ending September 30, 2006), the USPTO hired 1,193 new patent examiners,<ref name="USPTO 2006 Performance">[http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual/2006/3020100_patentperfrm.html USPTO Annual Report 2006, Patent Performance]</ref> and 1,215 new examiners were hired in fiscal 2007.<ref name="USPTO 2007"/> The USPTO expects to continue hiring patent examiners at a rate of approximately 1,200 per year from 2008 through 2012. In 2006, USPTO also instituted a new training program for patent examiners called the "Patent Examiner Training Academy." It is an eight-month program designed to teach new patent examiners the fundamentals of patent law, practice and examination procedure in a college-style environment.<ref>[http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/annual/2006/50200_natureoftrain.html USPTO Annual Report 2006, The Nature of the Training Provided to USPTO Examiners]</ref>. ==Fee diversion== Each year, [[United States Congress|Congress]] "diverts" about 10% of the fees that the USPTO has collected into the general treasury of the United States. In effect, this takes money collected from the patent system to use for the general budget. This fee diversion is generally opposed by patent practitioners (e.g [[patent attorney]]s and [[patent attorney|patent agent]]s), [[inventor]]s, and the USPTO.<ref>{{cite press release |publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office |date=February 2, 2004 |url=http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/04-03.htm |format= |title= President's proposed budget ends USPTO fee diversion in FY 2005 |accessdate=2006-11-24 }}</ref> These stakeholders would rather use the funds to improve the patent office and patent system, such as by implementing the USPTO's 21st Century Strategic Plan.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/strat21/| title = Strategic Plan for the 21st Century | accessdate = 2006-11-24| date = February 24, 2006 | publisher = United States Patent and Trademark Office }}</ref> ==Patents== [[Image:FirstUSpatent.jpg|right|thumb|First US patent]] * Each year, the PTO issues [[list of top United States patent recipients|over 150,000 patents]] to companies and individuals worldwide. As of February 2008, the PTO has granted over 7,950,000 patents. * The [[X-Patent]]s (the first 10,280 issued between 1790 and 1836) were destroyed by a fire; fewer than 3,000 of those have been recovered and re-issued with numbers that include an "X". The X generally appears at the end of the numbers hand-written on full-page patent images; however, in patent collections and for search purposes, the X is considered to be the patent type -- analogous to the "D" of design patents -- and appears at the beginning of the number. The X distinguishes the patents from those issued after the fire, which began again with patent number 1. * On July 31, 1790, the USPTO awarded its first [[patent]] to [[Samuel Hopkins (inventor)|Samuel Hopkins]] for an improvement "in the making of [[Potash|Pot ash]] and [[potassium carbonate|Pearl ash]] by a new Apparatus and Process." This patent was signed by then president [[George Washington]]. ==Trademarks== The USPTO examines applications for [[trademark]] registration. If approved, the trademarks are registered on either the [[Principal Register]] or the [[Supplemental Register]], depending upon whether the mark meets the appropriate distinctiveness criteria. However, this function is declining in popularity as trademark applicants move to cheaper, more straightforward state-by-state registrations. <ref>{{cite web | url = http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/trademark/trademark-registration/state-trademark-info-links.html | title = State Trademark Information | accessdate = 2008-02-11| date = February 11, 2008| publisher = FindLaw For Small Business }}</ref> <ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.uspto.gov | title = Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) | accessdate = 2008-02-11| date = February 11, 2008| publisher = United States Patent and Trademark Office }} ''Note: click on "Trademarks" then click on "TESS" tab.''</ref> ==Representation== The PTO only allows certain qualified persons to practice before the PTO. ''Practice'' includes filing of patent applications on behalf of inventors, prosecuting patent applications on behalf of inventors, and participating in administrative appeals and other proceedings before the PTO examiners and boards. The PTO sets its own standards for who may practice and requires that any person who practices become registered. A USPTO-registered non-attorney professional is called a [[patent attorney|patent agent]] and a USPTO-registered attorney is called a [[patent attorney]]. In order to become registered to practice before the USPTO, an applicant must demonstrate to the USPTO's satisfaction certain scientific and technical competencies (such as having a science or engineering degree) and then pass a difficult USPTO-administered patent bar exam called the [[USPTO registration examination]]. This bar exam covers the voluminous regulations and procedures that govern USPTO practice. The registration process is managed by the USPTO's Office of Enrollment & Discipline (OED).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/mission.htm| title = OED Mission | accessdate = 2006-11-24| date = June 21, 2006| publisher = United States Patent and Trademark Office }} ''Note: the [http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/roster/index.html original link location] appears to no longer be available.''</ref> Individual inventors may file and prosecute patent applications by themselves by a process of ''[[pro se]]'' patent filing. The inventor is not required to be represented by a registered patent attorney or patent agent. If it appears to a patent examiner that an inventor filing a pro se application is not familiar with the proper procedures of the patent office, the examiner may suggest that it would be desirable for the inventor to obtain representation by a licensed patent attorney or agent. <ref> ''[[Manual of Patent Examining Procedure]]'', [http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep_e8r3_0400.pdf Chapter 400] </ref> The patent examiner cannot recommend a patent attorney or agent, but the patent office does post a list of registered attorneys or agents. <ref> [http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/roster/index.html#attorney_agent_search List of registered attorneys or agents]. </ref> It is not uncommon for individual inventors to file their own patents to potentially save thousands of dollars in agent/attorneys fees, since legal fees for the preparation and filing of a US patent application can total many thousands of dollars. While an inventor of a relatively simple-to-describe invention may well be able to produce an adequate specification and accompanying drawings for a utility application, the complexity lies in what is claimed, either in the particular claim language of a utility application, or in the manner in which drawings are presented in a design application. Moreover, failure to adequately respond to an office action from the USPTO can endanger the inventor's rights, and may lead to abandonment of the application. Patent agents can only act in a representative capacity in patent matters at the USPTO, and cannot represent an applicant for a trademark. Trademark applicants may be represented by any state bar licensed attorney sufficiently capable of handling trademark matters, governed by the rules of professional responsibility. There is no analogous "trademark agent" exam. ==Electronic filing system== The USPTO will accept patent applications filed in electronic form. As of March 2006, inventors or their patent agents/attorneys can file applications as [[Portable Document Format|Adobe PDF]] documents. The web page for submitting applications is [https://sportal.uspto.gov/secure/portal/efs-unregistered https://sportal.uspto.gov/secure/portal/efs-unregistered]. Filing fees can be paid by credit card or by a USPTO “deposit account”. ==Electronic retrieval system== The [http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html USPTO Web site] provides free electronic copies of issued patents and patent applications as single-page [[TIFF]] documents. The site also provides Boolean search and analysis tools. The USPTO's free distribution service only distributes the patent documents as a set of single page files (see http://www.uspto.gov/patft/help/images.htm). Numerous free and commercial services provide patent documents in other formats, such as [[Adobe PDF]] and [[CPC]]. ==Criticisms== ===Controversial patents=== *{{US patent|5,443,036}}, "[[Method of exercising a cat]]", covers having a cat chase the beam from a laser pointer. The patent has been criticised as being obvious.<ref name="NYTimes2004_10_21">{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/business/21scene.html|author=Hal H. Varian|title=Patent Protection Gone Awry|date=2004-10-21|publisher=[[New York Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2002/10/55831|title=Stop the Patent Process Madness|date=2002-10-21|author=Laura Weinstein|publisher=[[Wired Magazine]]}}</ref> *{{US patent|6,004,596}}, "[[Sealed crustless sandwich]]", approved in 1999, covers the design of a sandwich with crimped edges.<ref name="NYTimes2004_10_21"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Sara Schaefer Muñoz|date=2005-04-05|publisher=[[Wall Street Journal]]|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB111266108673297874.html|title=Patent No. 6,004,596: Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich}}</ref> *{{US patent|6,368,227}}, "Method of swinging on a swing", approved April 9, 2002 <ref name="NewScientist2002_04_17">{{cite web|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2178-boy-takes-swing-at-us-patents.html|publisher=[[New Scientist]]|date=2002-04-17|author=Jeff Hecht|title=Boy takes swing at US patents}}</ref> by patent examiner Kien T. Nguyen,<ref name="NYTimes2002_05_13">{{cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E7DB1739F930A25756C0A9649C8B63|publisher=[[New York Times]]|title=Patents; The Patent Office faces huge backlogs, extremely technical inventions, and absurd ones.|author=Teresa Riordan|date=2002-05-13}}</ref> was granted to a seven-year old boy, whose father, a patent attorney, wanted to demonstrate how the patent system worked to his son (aged 5 at the time of the application). The patent office initially rejected it due to prior art,<ref name="NewScientist2002_04_17"/> but the father went through the appeals process,<ref name="NewScientist2002_04_17"/> and the patent office granted it. *{{US patent|6,960,975}}, "Space vehicle propelled by the pressure of inflationary vacuum state", describes an [[anti-gravity]] device. In November 2005, the USPTO was criticized by physicists for granting it. The journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' first highlighted this patent issued for a device that presumably amounts to a [[perpetual motion]] machine, defying the laws of physics.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Ball | first = Philip | date = November 10, 2005 | title = Antigravity craft slips past patent officers | journal = Nature | volume = 438 | issue = 7065 | pages = 139 | pmid = 16280998 | doi = 10.1038/438139a }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author = United Press International | title = Patent issued for anti-gravity device | url = http://www.physorg.com/news8042.html | publisher = Phyorg.com | date = 2005 | accessdate = 2006-11-24 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author = Brian Handwerk | title = Antigravity Machine Patent Draws Physicists' Ire | url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1111_051111_junk_patent.html | publisher = National Geographic News | date = November 11, 2005 | accessdate = 2006-11-24 }}</ref><ref>An [http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20051109-13140400-bc-us-antigravity.xml untraceable link] was also included here as an additional reference.</ref> The device comprises a particular electrically [[superconductivity|superconducting]] shield and elecromagnetic generating device. The examiner allowed the claims because the design of the shield and device was novel and not obvious.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_CH/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.getBib/.ps/N/.c/6_0_69/.ce/7_0_3AB/.p/5_0_341/.d/2?selectedTab=ifwtab&isSubmitted=isSubmitted&dosnum=11079670#7_0_3AB | title = Notice of Allowance and Fees Due (PTOL-85) | accessdate = 2006-11-24| author = Ramon M Barrera (examiner) | date = June 7, 2005| format = PDF | work = 11/079,670 Space Vehicle Propelled by the Pressure of Inflationary Vacuum State | publisher = United States Patent and Trademark Office| pages = 2 }} ''Note: Navigate to the 'Image File Wrapper' to find the file; download and open with a PDF reader.'' The specific passage from the document follows: "The following is an examiner's statement of reasons for allowance: None of the prior art of record taught or disclosed the claimed superconducting shield and electromagnetic field generating means structure."</ref> In situations such as this where a substantial question of [[patentability]] is raised after a patent issues, the Commissioner of the Patent Office can order a [[reexamination]] of the patent. ===Slow patent examination=== The USPTO has been criticized for taking an inordinate amount of time in examining patent applications. This is particularly true in the fast growing area of [[business method patent]]s. As of 2005, patent examiners in the business method area were still examining patent applications filed in 2001. The delay has been attributed by spokesmen for the Patent Office to a combination of a sudden increase in business method patent filings after the 1998 [[State Street Bank & Trust Company v. Signature Financial Group, Inc.|''State Street Bank'' decision]], the unfamiliarity of patent examiners with the business and financial arts (e.g. banking, [[insurance]], stock trading etc.), and the issuance of a number of controversial patents (e.g. {{US patent|5,960,411}} "[[1-Click|Amazon one click patent]]") in the business method area. Effective in August 2006, the USPTO introduced an [[Petition to make special|accelerated patent examination procedure]] in an effort to allow inventors a speedy evaluation of an application with a final disposition within 12 months. The procedure requires additional information to be submitted with the application and also includes an interview with the examiner.<ref>[http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/accelerated/ USPTO Accelerated Patent Examination]</ref> The first accelerated patent was granted on March 15, 2007 with a 6 month issuance time.<ref>[http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/07-13.htm Press Release:] USPTO GRANTS FIRST PATENT UNDER NEW ACCELERATED REVIEW OPTION</ref> ==See also== *[[United States patent law]] *[[History of United States patent law]] *[[Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences]] (BPAI) *[[Confederate Patent Office]] *''[[Ex Parte Quayle]]'' *[[Invention Secrecy Act]] *[[John Ruggles]] *[[Old Patent Office Building]] *[[Patent office]] *[[Patent Office Professional Association]] (POPA) *[[Term of patent in the United States]] *[[Trademark Trial and Appeal Board]] (TTAB) *[[Trilateral Patent Offices]] ==References and notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== * USPTO ** [http://www.uspto.gov/ Main page] ** [http://www.uspto.gov/main/search.html Searches] ** [http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/gcounsel/oed.htm Office of Enrollment & Discipline (OED)] ** [http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/ Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program] ** [http://www.uspto.gov/smallbusiness/ Stopfakes.gov Small Business Resources] {{USDC agencies}} {{North America topic|Patent office in|title=[[Patent offices in North America]]}} [[Category:Intellectual property organizations]] [[Category:Patent offices]] [[Category:United States trademark law]] [[Category:United States patent law|Patent and Trademark Office]] [[Category:United States Department of Commerce|Patent and Trademark Office]] [[fr:United States Patent and Trademark Office]] [[ja:米国特許商標庁]] [[no:United States Patent and Trademark Office]] [[pl:Urząd Patentów i Znaków Towarowych USA]] [[sv:United States Patent and Trademark Office]] [[zh:美国专利及商标局]]