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A U.S. patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor(s), issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, "the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling" the invention in the United States or "importing" the invention into the United States. To get a U.S. patent, an application must be filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office grants patents in three categories:
Utility Patents: Most common patent -- for machines, articles of manufacture, composition of matter, and methods of making and doing things. Animal patents fall within this category.
Design Patents: This patent protects only the ornamental appearance of the device. A very simple application to fill out because there is only one claim.
Plant Patent: Any plant produced by budding or grafting, i.e., asexually reproduced. When you buy a rose plant, for example, note that it is most probably patented.
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