Patents are somewhat complex documents that detail different pieces of vital information. Open the file below to see explanations of the different parts of a patent.
A few notes before you begin:
- What you will find: Because the patent document is an official record that provides detailed information about specific inventions, inventors are required to make a full disclosure of the invention so that someone who is skilled in the technological area of the invention can reproduce the invention by using the information contained in the patent.
- Read the Entire Disclosure: This is especially important for inventors. The detailed description of the invention has more information than the abstract or the claims. Note that if your invention is described anywhere in the patent, the patent will affect your ability to patent your invention.
- Image Files: The image files of patents are electronic facsimiles of the original USPTO patent documents that grant rights to inventors. The files are complete in two ways: first, every known patent issued since 1790 is present in the database; secondly, each patent in the database is complete with all drawings, descriptions, claims, and other information.
