Patent Basics - Module 1 of 5

Question 1

Which of the following U.S. government agencies is responsible for issuing patents?

Department of the Treasury

Library of Congress

Patent and Trademark Office

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a type of U.S. patent?

Utility patent

Design patent

Plant patent

Seed patent

Question 3

Which of the following would be the most likely candidate for patent protection?

The name of a company

A process used to manufacture a widget

A painting

A cooking recipe

Question 4

Which of the following are NOT included in an issued utility patent?

The patent number

The expiration date of the patent

The names of the inventors

A detailed written description of the invention

Question 5

Which of the following are NOT included in an issued design patent?

The patent number

Patent figures

A detailed written description of the invention

The names of the inventors

Question 6

TRUE or FALSE: If a person significantly contributes to only one of 47 claims of a patent, she must nevertheless be listed as an inventor.

True

False

Question 7

Which of the following is the LEAST likely candidate for patent protection?

Computer software code

Computer hardware

The ornamental features of an automobile

The method of creating a new microprocessor

Question 8

A patent application claims a method of turning Martian soil into food. What would be the most likely basis for a Patent Examiner to reject the claim?

Lack of utility

Lack of novelty

Obviousness

Improper subject matter

Question 9

Which of the following can NOT be used as prior art to reject a recently-filed patent application?

A product sold by a competitor seven years earlier

A product created and sold by the inventor the prior month

An advertisement in a Polish newspaper a week before the patent application was filed

A Chinese patent

Question 10

Which of the following could be used as evidence in an attempt to convince a Patent Examiner that a patent claim is not obvious?

Evidence that the patented product has been a slow seller

Past success by others in trying to solve the same problem

Past failures by others in trying to solve the same problem

Similar patents from other countries