If an individual is an inventor or creator, they may want to protect their inventions and creations from unauthorized use and distribution. Pursuant to federal patent laws, patents are given to inventors to exclude other individuals or entities from “making, using, offering for sale or selling the invention” in the United States.
Patents are provided to inventors and creators to protect their work. Patents typically last for 20 years and may be used for any inventions in any field of technology.
International agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO) include patents. This means that member nations of the organization are expected to recognize and enforce legal patents.
What Types of Inventions can be Patented?
Generally, in order for an individual to receive a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, an invention is required to be:
- New
- Unique
- Generally unobvious
There are different types of patents that may be available, depending upon the work that the individual wishes to patent, including:
- Utility patents: Generally, an invention is required to be a process or method with a concrete result, a machine, a chemical or biological composition of matter, or an invention improvement. The invention must be moderately useful to qualify for a utility patent.
- Design patents: Generally, the design must be:
- novel
- non-obvious
- non-functional
- Plant patents: Plants that are created can be patented. The plant must be novel and non-obvious.
It is important to note that certain things cannot be patented, including:
- Naturally occurring substances
- Laws of nature
- Ideas
- Calculation methods
- Other things
How Long Does a Patent Last?
Patents that are filed after June 8, 1995, last for a period of 20 years from the date that patent application was filed. If the patent was filed before June 8, 1995, it will last for either 17 years from the date the application was granted or 20 years from the date the application was filed, whichever is longer.
The duration of a patent also depends upon what type of patent is being filed. The validity of patents include:
- Utility patent: Valid for 20 years from the date of filing if it was filed prior to June 8, 1995 or valid for 17 years from the date it was issued, whichever time period is longer
- Design patent: Valid for 14 years from the date of issue for a design patent
- Plant patents: Valid for 17 years from the date it was issued
Do Patents Ever Expire Early?
In some cases, a patent may expire early. Common examples of why this may occur include that the patent is found to be invalid or the inventor fails to pay the maintenance fee.
Once the patent expires, whether due to the time limit expiring or the inventor failing to pay the required fees, the patent will go into the public domain. If this occurs, the following may be done with the patent by any individual:
The owner of a patent does not have rights to that patent once it expires. However, the owner may be permitted to bring an infringement action or an enforcement action if a patent was infringed upon during the time in which the patent was valid and not expired.
What Could Make My Patent Invalid?
A patent may be deemed invalid for a number of reasons. In many cases, a patent will be deemed invalid as a result of an infringement care when the accused infringer defends themselves by claiming that the patent is valid. Common reasons that a patent may be deemed invalid include:
- The invention was not actually patentable: If evidence can be presented that shows the invention lacked the requisite novelty, utility, or non-obviousness required for the patent, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) can declare a patent invalid.
- An individual obtained the patent fraudulently: Even if an invention was patentable, if an individual can show that the patent was obtained through deception of the USPTO, the patent may be declared invalid.
- The patent was used to commit illegal acts: If an individual uses their patent to engage in illegal conduct, the USPTO may declare the patent invalid.
What Are Maintenance Fees and When Do I Have to Pay Them?
Inventors are required to pay maintenance fees to the USPTO in order to keep their patent in force. Patent maintenance fees are due at specific intervals after a patent is granted, including:
- 3.5 years
- 7.5 years
- 11.5 years
If the patent owner misses one of these deadlines, however, they have a 6 month grace period in which to pay the maintenance fee in addition to a penalty surcharge to keep their patent in force. If the patent owner fails to make the maintenance fee payments, the patent will expire.
What Is Patent Infringement?
Patent infringement occurs when there is an unauthorized use, manufacture, sale, or import or a patented invention. In order to show patent infringement has occurred, the patent’s claims and elements are compared to the elements of the suspect device or invention.
If these match, patent infringement has occurred. In these cases, the inventor can enforce their patent in federal court.
How Do I Know if Someone Infringed on My Patent?
Whether or not a patent has been infringed upon will depend on the scope of the claims of the patent. These claims define the invention and, therefore, define the scope of protection that the invention receives.
In order to constitute infringement, another invention must infringe on every claim that is made in an individual’s patent. There are two steps that must be followed to determine if a new invention infringes on an existing patent, including:
- Determining the scope and meaning of the claims in the patent
- Determining if the new invention infringes on those claims
How Do I Determine the Scope of My Patent’s Claims?
The meaning and scope of patent claims will primarily depend upon the language of the claims. When determining the meaning and scope of the patent claims, the following should be considered:
- Claims should have the same meaning for infringement as they had for validity
- Unless otherwise stated, the language in the claims should be given its ordinary meaning
- A single word will have only one meaning
- The same word used in two separate claims will have the same meaning in each claim
- An individual cannot try to change the meaning of the words in a claim to widen the scope of their patent
- Claims should be construed as broadly as possible
In other words, when an individual is trying to determine the scope of their claims, they must examine what the claims actually describe and not what the individual wants them to describe.
Does the New Invention Have to Be Identical to My Invention to Infringe on My Patent?
Although it may seem that a new invention would have to be a duplicate of an existing invention in order to infringe, it is typically sufficient for the new invention to be substantially similar to the existing invention.
Inventions may infringe in two ways, including:
- Literally: The claims of an individual’s patent directly describe the infringing invention.
- Doctrine of Equivalents: The infringing invention does not literally fall under the individual’s claims, but it performs the same function in order to achieve the same result, and every element of every claim of the invention has some corresponding equivalent in the infringing invention.
What Remedies Are Available to Me if Someone Infringes on My Patent?
If an individual prevails in their lawsuit against the infringing party, they may be entitled to several remedies, including:
- An injunction
- Damages
- Court costs and attorney’s fees
Have There Been Any Updates or Changes to Patent Laws?
Yes, there have been some notable new developments to patent laws as well as updated guidelines from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) about patents and artificial intelligence (AI).
Even though the laws in patent statutes have not been changed, interpretation of how AI interacts with patent inventorship and infringement has changed, including with regards to AI-assisted inventions.
Guidelines from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
In November of 2025, the USPTO issued the Revised Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions, which provided several guidelines, including:
- AI is a tool and not an inventor
- Only people can be inventors
- Even when AI plays a significant role in the research and development process, it cannot be listed as an inventor or as a co-inventor
- The 2024 guidance that allowed for AI to be a potential co-inventor if a human made a significant contribution, called the Significant Contribution Test, was rescinded in the 2025 guidance
- There is a focus on human conception of an invention
- The conception is the formation in the mind of the inventor of a permanent and definite idea of the complete and operative invention
- AI is treated similar to laboratory equipment, research databases, and simulation software
- In other words, AI is treated as a tool that is used by humans to achieve a result
- When an AI system is listed as an inventor on a patent application, the application will be rejected
Legal Trends related to AI and Patents
In April of 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that taking an abstract idea, for example, mapping or schedule, and applying intentional machine learning to that idea does not make it into a patent-eligible invention. For a machine learning patent to be eligible, it has to make a specific improvement to the AI or machine learning model itself.
These recent changes mean that patents that heavily rely on AI-generated core ideas instead of human-generated ideas will be more vulnerable to invalidation challenges at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) or in court. Without having evidence that a human directed the AI, structured the prompts, and analyzed the output to create the final invention, a patent can be at risk of being invalidated.
Proposed Legislation
The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) was proposed in 2025. It seeks to redefine patent subject matter eligibility by expanding patentability for biotech, diagnostics, and AI. This may impact AI-related software patents.
The PERA also seeks to eliminate the judicially created exceptions of laws of nature, abstract ideas, and natural phenomena. PERA seeks to replace those with five specific statutory exceptions.
In January of 2025, an Executive Order was signed entitled, Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. This order aims to accelerate United States AI innovation, bolster national security, and bolster economic competitiveness. This order encourages a pro-patent environment, while maintaining the requirement for human inventorship.
Patent laws are currently undergoing updates and changes and technology changes and expands. These laws can also be changed when new presidential administrations take office.
Because of the potential for constant revision in patent laws, it is essential for an individual to seek the advice of a patent lawyer for any patent-related questions or issues to ensure they are in compliance with the latest updates and requirements.
Do I Need to Consult a Patent Attorney?
Determining whether patent infringement has occurred is a very technical and complex process. It is in your best interests to consult with a patent attorney who practices law in these issues.
Your attorney can advise you whether or not your rights have been infringed upon. A patent lawyer will have the knowledge and expertise to best present your arguments to the court and help protect your invention.
LegalMatch offers no-cost attorney-client matching services where you can find a patent lawyer near you, and it will only take you a short amount of time to complete the online submission process. Because of the possibilities of frequent updates and the complexity of patent issues, having a patent lawyer handle your case is essential. As such, you should find a prescreened and licensed lawyer on LegalMatch today.
