How much time required to get patent in US ?

“The time required for drafting and filing a Patent application in US is about 15 to 20 days, then you receive a “patent pending” status. The time required for getting a patent grant in US is 2-3 years by the normal route, and about 1 year or less by the accelerated route.“

How much time required to get patent in US ?

When you (inventor) ask about the time required to get a patent in US for my invention, even if did not specifically mention it, there are 2 intentions behind asking that question and ultimately 2 answers:

Time required to file a patent in US for your invention
Time required to get a granted patent in US for your invention

Time required to file a patent in US

It takes about 2-3 weeks for a patent attorney to write a patent application and file it. Steps include

novelty search or patent search (time required for patent search is about 1 to 2 weeks)
patentability opinion
drafting a patent application and (time required for patent drafting is about 2 to 3 weeks )
filing a patent application at USPTO (once all documents are ready time to file patent application in USPTO could be few hours to 1 day)

Time required to get a granted patent in US

It takes about 1 year to 3 years to get granted a patent in US for your invention. when a non provisional aaplication is filed generally it is reviewed by examiner in about 22 to 24 months (within 2 years) and on an average the time required to get the patent in US is about 30 to 32 months.

Steps include :

filing non provisional patent application ( 0 month )
Publication of application
Examination (within 22 months as per average)
Examination report
Office action (16 to 18 months after filing)
Grant of patent (within 32 months as per average)

you can read the section on procedure, timeline, and costs for getting a patent in US

How to fast track patent in us ? speed up the process to grant

To speed up the process of getting patent grant in US, there are few approches can be taken : Some approches are paid and direct options like opting for

Track One Prioritized Examination
Accelerated Examination
Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
Expedited Examination

on the other hand, some of the indirect ways that can help you get faster grant of patent are :

Being ready with appropriate information about the invention really reduces time from the ideation stage of the invention to filing of the patent, our guideline on how to go from Idea to invention disclosure and to granted patent.
Providing clear and consize invention disclosure specifically mentioning novel and non-obvious part of invention (if possible) will save a lot of time and reduce frequency of communication with Patent practitioner.
drafting the first claim in the meeting with a patent agent or attorney which helps in creating rest of the patent application in quicker time. Saving a lot of emails and meetings for the same outcome.
Review the patent draft (patent application) in quicker time before filing in to USPTO
You may also contact patent examiner for status of the patent application (status request)
You may choose to go for First Action Interview Program and talk to the examiner before the examiner issues a first communication; having direct communication with the examiner to help speed up the process and you may get early allowance of an application.
and last but not least, a well drafted patent application with well written claims have better chance to proceed to grant of patent in much lesser time.

Track One Prioritized Examination

Track One is a prioritized type of patent application. In track one, the time to get granted patent in US is reduced to 6 to 12 months. it has fees of $1,000 for micro-entities, $2,000 for small entities, and $4,000 for non-small entities. a maximum of 10,000 requests will be granted per fiscal year.

There are some limitations for track one like :

No more than four independent claims
No multiple dependent claims
No more than 30 claims

Below is the list of documents required for Track One Prioritized Examination :

Request for Track One petition submitted on the day of filing of the patent application.
Patent specification, drawings, claims
Inventors oath and application data sheet;
Prioritized examination fees; and
Processing fee.

Accelerate the patent examination process

To accelerate the patent examination process, USPTO offers the provision of speeding up the patent examination process as follows :

Prioritized examination
Accelerated examination
First action interview pilot program
Patent prosecution highway
Petition to make special

https://www.uspto.gov/patent

Prioritized Examination

when you opt for prioritized examination the patent application would be given a special status during the examination and it is tried to be disposed of within 12 months.

Accelerated Examination

Under one of these procedures, the USPTO will advance an application out of turn for examination if the applicant files a grantable petition to make special under the accelerated examination program.

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) – Fast Track Examination of Applications

Under PPH, participating patent offices have agreed that when an applicant receives a final ruling from a first patent office that at least one claim is allowed, the applicant may request fast track examination of the corresponding claim(s) in a corresponding patent application that is pending in a second patent office.

Petition to make special

In United States patent law, a petition to make special (PTMS) is a formal request submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) asking that a patent application be examined ahead of the other pending applications in the same technological art.

“Track One” program provides an accelerated examination to anyone who pays the fee and completes the few requirements. The fee is $4000 for large entities, but only $2000 for small entities (those entities with less than 500 employees). Under Track One, the USPTO guarantees examination and issuance of a patent within one year.

Things you can do with “Patent Pending” or patent filed status

Now, When a typical inventor / applicant gets to know that it takes more than 2 years to get granted a patent for his invention, the immediate questions in mind would be;

Do I have to wait for 2-3 years to do anything about my invention? Till the patent is granted?
How it will make sense in my current business to wait for such long time period ?

The most important fact to consider here is, you get the status of “patent pending” or “patent filed” in US as soon as you file the patent application at USPTO. This ensures the priority date is secured and now you (inventor) do not need to wait till grant of a patent for most of the activities you wish to do with your invention like:

Talking to investors and financers to get funding
Researching the financial worth of the invention
Finding the right partners for building a business around an invention
Advertising and commercializing
Practicing the invention for trial purposes with some clients
Searching for the right partner to license the patent after grant
Or in some cases entirely selling the invention as patent-pending

However, The only thing you cannot do till you have been granted a patent on your name for the invention is to “stop others from practicing the invention for commercial purpose”!!! In other words, you cannot stop others from using, selling, offering for sale, or importing your invention until and unless you have granted a patent on your name for the invention. For only stopping others you need to wait till the grant of a patent!!! (2-3 years)

almost all activities (even selling of the patent in the process) can be done after you have filled the patent application that is your invention is having “patent pending” status. Hence even if it takes more than 2 years to get granted a patent for your invention, It doesn’t stop you from doing almost all activities generally related to a patent as soon as you file the patent !!!

6. How much time required to get patent in US ?