United States Patent Office

US Patent Office is a government agency based in Washington, DC. The Patent Office is responsible for issuing and maintaining patents on inventions created by people in the US. Many inventors have patents on their inventions and discoveries. The purpose to having a patent, beyond the recognition of having created or discovered the item, is to protect the invention from being stolen or plagiarized by another entity. If an item is stolen by a rival company, millions of dollars could be lost for the inventor, who may not receive any acclaim or monetary benefit from his/her hard work.

The Patent Office also exists to protect inadvertent reproduction of a patent. For example, an inventor in New York may develop a new style of widget and is awarded a patent on the item. A year later, an inventor in California may come up with...