Design Patent Term
Can someone explain the difference between: design, utility, plant, patents?
Please explain in the “rich dumby terms.”
A design patent is a patent on the design or “look” of a companies/individuals product ie the way a cell phone looks, but not the way the cell phone works. A utility patent is for how a widget works to complete a task, like a patented tool, I believe a utility patent can also be used to cover a manufacturing process unique to a company or individual also (I may be wrong on this.) A plant patent is used for plants ie genetically engineered corn or grain etc. I believe all patents can be sold or licensed depending on the patent’s creator, and do expire (I believe 20 years for utility patents, not sure on the others though) check out www.uspto.gov for more info, its been a while since I have visited but you can search and view every single US patent ever created. Good Luck!
Sen. Mike Jungbauer’s Presenation at the Minnesota Climate Change Symposium