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The Patent Process
by Donna Latham

Genre

Expository
nonfiction

Comprehension
Skills and Strategy

• Author’s Purpose
• Generalize
• Text Structure

Text Features

•
•
•
•

Heads
Charts
Diagrams
Glossary


4. This book contains images of many different
inventions. Which one of the images did you find the
most interesting? Why?

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Patents and Inventions: A Great Combination
Are you wearing jeans today? Are your sneakers
fastened with Velcro®? Have you placed a call on a
telephone? If you answered “yes” to any of these
questions, then you have used a consumer product
that was patented years ago as an invention.
Throughout history, inventions have solved
problems, simplified work, cured diseases, and
improved communications worldwide. Inventions
have affected every area of our lives!
Inventors work hard to turn their ideas into
reality and deserve recognition for what they have
achieved. In order for inventors to be recognized for
their innovations and discoveries, they must first go
through the process of obtaining a patent.

Did You Know?
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for
photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to
correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.


world, because you know everyone will want to
purchase it! But how can you be sure that your
invention is yours alone, and that you haven’t
inadvertently replicated someone
else’s idea? And even if
you can verify that your
idea isn’t a copy of
someone else’s, how
can you safeguard
your brilliant notion
in order to prevent
someone from taking
advantage of it
before you do? Before
you do anything with
your invention, you need
to patent it. Keep reading
to find out everything you
need to know about the
patent process!

During the California gold rush,
Levi Strauss realized that miners
needed rugged pants that
would not wear out as they dug
for gold. He made a fortune on
the jeans he invented!

4


Protects the
way a new
product is
built and the
way it works

Computer
hardware,
medicines

20 years

Design
Patent

Protects the
new, original,
or ornamental
appearance of
a product

Athletic shoes;
action figures
based on movie
characters

20 years

Plant
Patent

whole new range of rubbersoled athletic shoes, including
types that inflated, named
“pump-ups,” and types
that glowed in the dark,
called “light-ups.” Pumpup and light-up athletic
shoes involved new uses
and designs, making them
eligible for brand-new
patents.

6

Not Everything Can Be Patented
What does not qualify for a patent? A product
that involves a simple switch in materials, such as
the change from a metal piece to a plastic one, does
not qualify for a patent. Neither does a change in
size, such as when a television screen is reduced from
twelve inches to ten inches in width.
In addition, to be eligible for a patent, an invention
must not be obvious. That means that it shouldn’t be
something that could easily be developed by many
people. For example, an ice-cream cone filled with
peanut butter does not produce new or unexpected
results. Just because two inventions are combined (in
this case, peanut butter and an ice-cream cone) does
not mean that the new “invention” that results is
worthy of being patented.
Finally, an invention that is not useful is not
eligible for a patent. The United States Patent and

On March 7,
1876, Alexander
Graham Bell
received the first
patent for his
telephone.

In 1975, nearly a
century later, Dr.
Martin Cooper helped
Motorola patent the
first portable handheld cellular phone.
Cell phones have transformed
rapidly in recent years in response
to changes in technology.

8

Bell’s simple sketch would transform society forever.

9


Provisional Patents
If inventors don’t at first have the time or money
to go through the process of filing for a formal
patent, but are convinced they have an idea that’s
worthy of eventually being patented, they can apply
for a provisional patent. A provisional patent, which
is only temporary, acts to protect the inventor’s idea


Patent Attorneys
Applying for patents can be tricky! Because of
this, an inventor will often hire a patent attorney to
help with the process. Patent attorneys are experts at
helping their clients obtain patents.
The patent attorneys start by studying the patents
that already exist. If they find that their client’s
invention isn’t already patented, they send a patent
application to the USPTO.
At the USPTO, an examiner confirms whether
or not a patent has already been issued for the
invention. If the examiner finds that there was an
earlier patent issued, the USPTO rejects the patent
application. But if the examiner finds no prior
record of a patent having already been issued, and
patent officials agree that the invention is worthy
of receiving a patent,
then the USPTO sends
the inventor a notice
that their application
has been accepted,
and tells them what
fees they have to pay.
Once the fees are
paid, the inventor
Inv
receives the patent
ent
ion

6

The USPTO decides that Pat’s invention is useful and original.

7

The USPTO sends a notice to Pat saying no one holds a patent
for her invention and that it is useful and original.

8

Pat pays all necessary fees to the USPTO.

9

Pat receives her patent!

ent
Pat

13


Presidents and Patents

Franklin and Carver: Two Great Inventors

On July 31, 1790,
President George
Washington signed

have lenses divided into two parts, help people see
things that are close-up and things that are far away.
Do you like peanut butter? The Incas used
peanut butter thousands of years ago, but inventor
George Washington Carver is credited with having
popularized it here in the United States. Carver
created hundreds of products from peanuts,
although he only received three patents during
his lifetime. He also found many new uses for
peas, sweet potatoes, soy, and pecans. Among his
inventions were food products, such as chili sauce,
and pigments, such as wood stains.

President George
Washington signed the
first patent granted in
the United States.

Thomas Jefferson
examined the first
patent applications.

14

George Washington Carver
developed dozens of ingenious
uses for peanut butter.

Benjamin Franklin’s invention
of bifocals has made reading

shakers,” due to the rough rides
caused by their wooden tires.
In 1893, the Ferris wheel,
named for its inventor,
George Ferris, debuted
in Chicago at the World’s
Columbian Exposition.
And speaking of bicycles,
the Wright brothers, who
owned a bicycle shop,
invented the first working
airplane in 1903.

Orville and Wilbur Wright

The Wright
brothers’ Flyer

Thomas Alva Edison

Edison’s 1879
lightbulb
Ferris wheel

16

17


The Recent Boom in Inventions

Montana

125

43

Nebraska

240

Nevada

455

New Hampshire

730

1,714
176

California

22,075

New Jersey

Colorado

2,301


1,535

Oklahoma

Hawaii

96

3,920
404

62
3,892
563

Oregon

1,867

Idaho

1,850

Pennsylvania

3,555

Illinois



Texas

6,376

Louisiana

438

Utah

724

Maine

165

Vermont

465

973

Maryland

1,577

Virginia

1,249


Missouri

945

141

19


Inventions All Around Us
The following stories describe a few of today’s
inventors and the inventions they have developed
that have changed how people live.
Chemist Arthur Fry developed his self-attaching
notes in 1974 for the 3M company by mistake!
A coworker had been trying to develop a sturdy
adhesive. When the coworker accidentally created
an adhesive that didn’t stick permanently, it gave Fry
the great idea of inventing removable notes, which
have now been patented as Post-It® notes.
By the late 1990s, the use of the Internet had
become widespread, but when the World Wide Web
first became available to the public, it had a much
different look. It was all text. In 1993, twenty-oneyear-old Marc Andreessen created Mosaic®, a Web
browser that allows graphics to be viewed.
Not only is Ellen Ochoa the world’s first Hispanic
female astronaut, she is also an inventor. Among
her three patents is a system that can be used with
robotic guiding systems.

page lists the steps necessary to take an idea for an
invention and transform it into a reality. Read the
instructions carefully, and don’t be afraid to reread
anything if you are confused. Remember that there
are no age restrictions on being an inventor (think
back to four-year-old inventor Sydney Dittman), so
anyone can come up with an invention!

22

to Do It!
w
o
H
s
’
e
r
He
The first thing you need is an idea for an
invention. Once you have your idea, write a
description of it. Explain how it will be used to solve
a problem or fill a need. Describe what it looks like.
Does the invention make a certain sound or feel a
certain way? Include those details.
Next, draw a sketch of the invention. Include
labels that help identify its parts.
Finally, give your invention a catchy name, one
that others won’t forget. Remember, you’re going
to sell your completed creation someday. You’ll want

lawyer who is an expert in
patent law.
patentee n. someone who
has received a patent.
provisional patent n. a
temporary patent that
protects an invention for
up to one year prior to
the inventor obtaining a
regular patent.

1. Why did the author put the information on page 5
into a chart, instead of using paragraph form?
2. The author structured the text in chronological
order. Using a graphic organizer, such as the one
below, write down inventors from the eighteenth,
nineteenth, and twentieth centuries who were
mentioned in this book. Include their inventions.
Eighteenth-century Inventors

Nineteenth-century Inventors

Twentieth-century Inventors
3. Why do you think creative ideas are called intellectual
property?
4. This book contains images of many different
inventions. Which one of the images did you find the
most interesting? Why?

24