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Patents: Frequently asked questions and answers about Patent Law; 1. What is a patent?; 2. What technology is protectable under a patent?; 3. How long is a patent valid?; 4. What competition does a patent prevent?; 5. What is the geographic scope of a patent?; 6. Can one infringe a patent without having knowledge of the patent?; 7. Can I keep some information about my invention a secret?; 8. What do the terms "patent pending" and "patent applied for" mean?; 9. Why does the law recognize patents?; 10. How was the duration of a patent determined?; 11. How important was patent law during the formation of the United States of America?; 12. Did the United States Patent Office believe that all inventions would be uncovered?; 13. How much does a patent Cost?; 14. How can I tell if the Patent Attorney / Agent I'm talking to is legitimate / honest?; 15. I have an IDEA; what should I do next?; 16. What are the different types of United States patents?; 17. What are the fundamental requirements of a patentable invention?; 18. What is the requirement of "new" or "novel"?; 19. What is the requirement of "useful"?; 20. What is the requirement of "non-obvious"?; 21. Why should one file before the first public disclosure or offer for sale?; 22. When must a patent application be filed before the first public disclosure or offer for sale?; 23. Can one use a priority date from one country in a second country?; 24. What benefit is there to waiting to file a patent application?; 25. What are the basic steps of obtaining a U.S. Patent?; 26. What are the considerations to conducting a patentability search?; 27. What is involved in preparing the patent application?; 28. What is an Office Action?; 29. How does the applicant respond to an Office Action?; 30. What happens upon receipt of the Notice of Allowance?; 31. What are the steps to obtaining foreign patent protection?; 32. What is the significance of the priority date?; 33. What is the purpose of a PCT application?; 34. What happens when foreign patent applications are filed?; 35. What is the key business consideration with foreign patent practice?

Important: These Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provided by the Patent Cafe where prepared by N Paul Friederichs III and Andy Gibbs. They are used with permission of the Patent Cafe. More intellectual property resources can be found at the Patent Cafe.

These Frequently Asked Questions are based on Federal Law.

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