The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will send the inventor what is called a Notice of Allowance. At this point the inventor may request that any errors in the patent be corrected. To cause the patent to actually issue, the inventor must pay an issue fee within three months. About three or four months after the Patent and Trademark Office receives the issue fee, the patent will issue and a record of it will be made available to the public. All maintenance fees are quoted without surcharge and are reduced by half for small entities.
Strict secrecy is maintained over all patent applications until the patent actually issues.
At that time the Patent and Trademark Office makes its complete file on the patent available for inspection by anyone who is interested. If the invention is patentable, a proceeding known as a patent interference will be declared by the Patent and Trademark Office to determine who is the first inventor. Each party to the interference must present evidence to prove the date on which he made the invention. Any party who is unable to produce such evidence will not be allowed to claim a date of invention which is earlier than the date on which his patent application was filed. Since conception and diligent reduction to practice determine who is entitled to the patent, it is very important that the inventor keep good records .