Guide to Filing a Non-Provisional Utility Patent in the U.S.

Patents provide inventors and companies with exclusive rights to their inventions for a period of time. This exclusive right encourages research and development by ensuring that innovators can recoup their investments and derive economic benefits from their inventions without the immediate fear of being copied or imitated by others. To obtain a patent, the inventor must file an application with the patent office, describing his invention and demonstrating that it is novel, useful and non-obvious to experts in the field.