What does Patent Pending mean?

The Patenting Process consists of applying for Patent Protection in the countries of one choice. Once an application is sent into a Patent Office, the application is stamped ‘Received On ______’ and this will be the ‘File Date’ and the application is considered ‘Pending’. This date is significant since Patent Offices all over the world will consider it to be your official date of invention so to speak. The application will likely sit in Pending status for a year or more, before the Patent Office finally has one of its Examiners review the application. Even though the Patent is not officially Granted, an inventor can feel free to manufacture, disclose, market, sell or license the idea in the market place. What’s most important is to file quickly and obtain Pending Status. Also, it is important to file a Patent Application within one year of publicly disclosing an idea. If the application is not made within the one year period, the inventor may lose his/her rights to Patent.