U.S. Patent

◆ Types of patents

　There are three types of patents: utility, design and plant. Utility and plant patent applications can be provisional and nonprovisional. Provisional applications may not be filed for design inventions.

Patent Authority	United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Types	Utility	Plant	Design
Subject Matter	For one invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.	For one invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.	For one invents any new, original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.
Terms of Protection	20 years from the filling date.	10 years from the filling date.	15 years¹ from the grant date.
Priority Claiming	Within 12 months from the 1^st filling date.		Within 6 months from the 1^st filling date.
Substantive Examination	Undergo substantive examination immediately upon filing.
International Application²	PCT	N/A	Hague System
Additional Information	Provisional application is acceptable.		N/A

Note:

1. Effective from May 13, 2015, the protection period for designs has been extended to 15 years.

2. The United States is a contracting party to the Hague Agreement. Under this agreement, when filing design applications in other contracting parties, applicants can also designate the United States for protection, and vice versa. It is important to note that once the application is filed, additional designations of countries cannot be added.

3. Effective March 11, 2022, the USPTO will no longer grant requests to participate in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) at the USPTO when such requests are based on work performed by Rospatent as an Office of Earlier Examination under the GPPH. In addition, in pending cases in which, prior to March 11, 2022, the USPTO granted special status under the GPPH to applications based on work performed by Rospatent, the USPTO will remove that status and return those applications to the regular processing and examination queue, meaning that they will no longer be treated as GPPH applications at the USPTO.