Research Guides: Patents and Trademark Information: Patents

Some background on the different types of Patents

The patent office handles hundreds of thousands of patents each year. The most common patents are the utility patent, design patent and the plant patent. Additionally, the patent office offers a provisional patent for inventors to protect their potential future patents.

Design Patent

Design Patent
Protects the way something is designed. Lasts 14 years.

The above image is of the 1915 Coca-Cola bottle design.

Utility Patent

Utility Patent
Protests the way something is made and used. Lasts 20 years. The above image is of the utility design for the slinky.

Plant Patent

"Plant Patent"
Protects any discovered or created a distinctive and new variety of plant (other than a tuber propagated plant or plant found in an uncultivated state). Lasts 20 years.

Provisional Patent

"Provisional Patents"
Made available as an early effective filing date for a later filed non-provisional patent. Allows for the term 'Patent Pending' to be added to the description of the invention. Good for 12 months