Patents and How to Get One: A Practical Handbook

Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
U.S. Department of Commerce
DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.
Mineola, New York
Bibliographical Note
This Dover edition, first published in 2000, is an unabridged and unaltered republication of the work originally published by the Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, D.C., in 1997 under the title General Information Concerning Patents .
International Standard Book Number: 0–486–41144–3
Manufactured in the United States of America
Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501
The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The role of the Patent and Trademark Office is to grant patents for the protection of inventions and to register trademarks. It serves the interest of inventors and businesses with respect to their inventions and corporate products, and service identifications. It also advises and assists the bureaus and offices of the Department of Commerce and other agencies of the Government in matters involving “intellectual property” such as patents, trademarks and semiconductor mask works. Through the preservation, classification, and dissemination of patent information, the Office aids and encourages innovation and the scientific and technical advancement of the nation.
In discharging its patent related duties, the Patent and Trademark Office examines applications and grants patents on inventions when applicants are entitled to them; it publishes and disseminates patent information, records assignments of patents, maintains search files of U.S. and foreign patents, and maintains a search room for public use in examining issued patents and records. It supplies copies of patents and official records to the public. Similar functions are performed relating to trademarks.