In the United States the only way to get a new patent is by filing a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This is just the beginning. The office will eventually (after a wait of several years) “prosecute” your application, the process by which they determine whether or not to grant you the patent. This typically involves extensive interaction with the inventors regarding the content of the application. The process is long, but will bear a patent if successful.

A more complete answer to this question is neither short nor straightforward as the patenting process varies widely from one invention to another. The most important step to obtaining a patent is determining whether or not you have an invention which is patentable according to the patent offices rather extensive definition. This question requires extensive patent prosecution experience to answer accurately, and is the primary subject of the patent examination process.

Inventors new to the patent process should consider hiring a patent agent. The USPTO’s information page on patents is another good place to get started.

This series of short articles is designed to help answer some commonly-asked questions and point readers in the direction of more information. Other articles in the series: Provisional Applications.