How it works: The USPTO (US Patent & Trademark Office) gets the initial patent application from the inventor or patent agent. But it can take a while to grant or deny a patent application. They have a heavy workload, examining and publishing thousands of patents each week! However, during the period of waiting for a USPTO grant decision, the USPTO publishes the patent application at some point (usually after 18 months) and the general public may view the full contents and it is in the public domain. (note: FreshPatents.com does not have access to and does not publish confidential and/or non-USPTO-published Patent Applications!)

Next, FreshPatents.com (no affiliation with the USPTO) empowers users with FREE tools to better find and track published patent applications. FreshPatents.com features the latest published US patent applications...which is certainly useful for your business and technology intelligence needs.