Granted utility patents: US11,234,567 B2. Published applications: US2023/0123456 A1. Design patents: USD123,456 S. Enter any format directly in the search box to locate a specific patent.

A utility patent protects how an invention works (function) and lasts 20 years. A design patent protects ornamental appearance (look) and lasts 15 years from grant. Most technology, software, chemical, and mechanical inventions use utility patents. Consumer product aesthetics — phone shapes, bottle designs — often use design patents.

CPC (Cooperative Patent Classification) is a hierarchical system jointly developed by USPTO and EPO. Enter a code like H04L 9 (data security) or A61K 31 (organic medicinal preparations) in the CPC filter to find all US patents in that technical domain. This is the most reliable method for comprehensive landscape analysis.

A provisional application establishes a US priority date for 12 months at low cost. It is never published and cannot become a patent on its own — a non-provisional must be filed within 12 months. Provisionals are not searchable in patent databases; only non-provisional applications and granted patents appear in search results.

Utility patents: 20 years from earliest effective filing date, with maintenance fees at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years post-grant. Design patents: 15 years from grant. Patents that lapse for non-payment of maintenance fees enter the public domain and can no longer be enforced, but they still constitute prior art.

The America Invents Act (AIA, 2011) switched the US to a first-inventor-to-file system. For applications filed after March 16, 2013, any prior art that predates the filing date (except the inventor's own disclosures within 12 months) can be used as prior art. Pre-AIA applications follow different prior art rules. For FTO analysis, note whether a patent was filed before or after this date.