You can file for three types of patents, utility patents, design patents, plant patents. If you’re reading this guide, it’s doubtful you’ll need to know about plant patents, as those have to do with new and distinct plant varieties. Utility patents have more to do with practical inventions, and they can be granted to discoverers of new processes, machines, or composition of matter. Design patents are more about creative processes and can be applied to articles of manufacture (such as a product).