Question: How do I obtain a patent?

Protecting the intellectual property that is your invention

A patent gives you, the inventor, rights to your invention. Patents are usually good for 20 years from the application date. According to the United States Patent and Trade Office's Web site, a patent allows the inventor 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." Patents fall under a broad heading: protecting intellectual property.

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