Negotiate with the Patent Office
After the application is ultimately filed as a utility application, it will sit at the USPTO for about 12-18 months before it is reviewed by a Patent Examiner. The Examiner will do his or her own prior art search, and will typically issue several rejections based on form and/or on other patents.
This is referred to the “prosecution phase” of the patent process. It can be thought of as a negotiation with the Examiner over the allowability of the application and the scope of protection.
Each time the USPTO issues a rejection, your patent attorney must prepare a response. Patent cases usually involve at least one response and frequently two. Your attorney should provide you with a copy of all correspondence to and from the USPTO.
There are other possibilities that may arise during the prosecution phase of the application which cannot be predicted with certainty in advance. These include restriction requirements, the filing of continuations, appeals, etc., though all can occur during a typical process. If the Examiner eventually allows the patent, then you will be responsible for paying an issue fee to the USPTO. Afterwards, your patent will likely have a term of at least 20 years from the date it is filed.
