A patent gives you the right to exclude other individuals from making, using, offering for sale, selling and importing an invention, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office at uspto.gov. Technically speaking, you cannot patent an idea. Ideas are intangible, and the USPTO will---for the most part---only grant patents for physical objects with complete descriptions. However, there are strategies you can use to get around this dilemma.

Make Idea Tangible

If you have an idea that you would like to patent, there is a strong chance it involves some type of physical apparatus or interaction that you can describe on paper. For example, if you have an idea for a flying car, you will have to design the vehicle and describe how it works, which will likely require the help of an engineer, before you can be eligible for a patent. According to uspto.com, your idea should fall into one of the following three patent categories: utility, which includes machines and equipment; design, which includes new, original, ornamental designs, such as a flying car; or plant, which includes the discovery and creation of new varieties of plant life. Once you have determined which category your idea falls into, you simply apply for the corresponding patent with the USPTO. For more information, and the necessary forms, visit uspto.gov.

Patent a Process

If you are having trouble making your idea tangible, it is possible that you have invented a new process. A process is a method, or a series of steps or acts. According to uspto.gov, processes typically have technical or industrial implications, and thus they fall under the "utility" patent category. An example of a process that you could patent is a new, original way to pasteurize milk. However, according to Trademark Lawyer Blog, before you are granted a patent, the USPTO will scrutinize your process and subject it to a number of tests. Traditionally, the USPTO would grant patents based on the process' ability to produce tangible, concrete or useful results. But according to the Lawyer blog, the tests are more geared toward determining whether a process is composed of abstract ideas, natural phenomenon or natural laws, which all cannot be patented, or whether the process is transformative, meaning it can transform an object into a different thing or state of being, which is patentable. The blog stresses that conducting clinical tests and entering data into algorithms, while they can produce new results, are not sufficiently transformative, and thus not patentable. The process must---according to the above source---transform raw data into something that can be visually displayed.

Source:

Trademark Lawyer Blog: Patenting a Process

United States Patent and Trademark Office: General Information Concerning Patents