You cannot patent anything which has been patented or described in a printed publication in any country for more than one year before the date of filing in the United States, or which had been in public use or on sale in the United States more than one year prior to filing.

Some foreign countries do not extend the one year grace period from initial publication, so it is wise to file at least a provisional patent application prior to publication. Provisional patent applications will be discussed on a later page.

Effective June 8th, 1995, the term of plant and utility patents is 20 years from the date of filing. Patents filed prior to June 8th 1995 last the longer of 17 years from the date of issue, or 20 years from the date of filing.

The next page describes provisional patent applications, which allow you to delay your application for a patent by up to one year.