U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Definition

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency of the Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.

Analogy

Think of USPTO as a school's administration office where you register your unique project or idea so no one else can claim it as theirs. It's like saying "I came up with this first" and having a certificate to prove it!

Related terms

Intellectual Property Rights: Legal rights that provide creators protection for original works, inventions, or the appearance of products, artistic works, scientific developments, etc.

Copyrights: Legal term describing rights given to creators for their literary and artistic works.

Invention Secrecy Act: A body of United States federal law designed to prevent disclosure of new inventions and technologies that could be harmful to national security if they fell into wrong hands.