United States Patent and Trademark Office

• The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the government agency responsible for examining patent applications and issuing patents.
• A patent is a form of intellectual property protection that grants the patent holder, for a limited period of time, the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention covered by the patent. The USPTO determines whether a patent application meets the legal requirements for approval. However, once a patent is granted, it is the responsibility of the patent holder to enforce those rights.
• The date your application is officially submitted to the USPTO is generally the date you may begin using the term “Patent Pending” in connection with your invention. In most cases, it takes approximately six to twelve months to receive either a first Office Action or a Notice of Allowance, although actual timeframes can vary. Once the application is either granted as a patent or finally rejected, the term “Patent Pending” should no longer be used.