Patent origin is determined by the residence of the first-named inventor. Patents granted are further broken down by utility, plant, design, and reissue patents.

Utility patents are patents for invention.

A plant patent is granted by the United States government to an inventor (or the inventor's heirs or assigns) who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.

A design consists of the visual ornamental characteristics embodied in, or applied to, an article of manufacture. Since a design is manifested in appearance, the subject matter of a design patent application may relate to the configuration or shape of an article, to the surface ornamentation applied to an article, or to the combination of configuration and surface ornamentation. A design for surface ornamentation is inseparable from the article to which it is applied and cannot exist alone. It must be a definite pattern of surface ornamentation, applied to an article of manufacture.

A reissue application is filed to correct an error in the patent, where, as a result of the error, the patent is deemed wholly or partly inoperative or invalid. An error in the patent arises out of an error in conduct which was made in the preparation and/or prosecution of the application which became the patent.

For more information on patent types, see https://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics/types-patent-applications.

For more information on the data, see https://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/brochure.htm. Hide Read More