What are the different types of patents?

Patents are a form of intellectual property law that allow inventors to protect their inventions from being copied or infringed upon. In California, there are four types of patents: utility patents, design patents, plant patents, and provisional patents. Utility patents can be granted for any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any useful improvement of an existing product. This type of patent is the most common and typically takes eighteen months to be granted. Design patents are given to inventors who create a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. This patent grants protection for up to fifteen years. Plant patents are granted for any newly invented or discovered asexually reproduced plant, including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than tuber-propagated plants or fungi. This type of patent grants the inventor exclusive rights for up to twenty years. Provisional patents are a way for inventors to get a filing date on their inventions. This type of patent does not require a full patent application and is valid for up to twelve months. During this twelve-month period, the inventor can work to refine the invention and complete a full patent application.

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