With a single click, Amazon’s “One-Click” checkout eliminated the tedious cart-to-purchase process that plagued every e-commerce site. That simple improvement—patenting the removal of steps rather than adding complexity—generated billions in revenue and became one of the most valuable patents in internet history.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to build a patent empire. You just need to make it roll better.
Right now, you’re sitting on improvements that could be worth millions. Maybe it’s a more efficient manufacturing process, a user interface tweak that cuts completion time in half, or a material substitution that doubles product lifespan. These aren’t “just incremental changes”—they’re the foundation of 90% of all patents granted by the USPTO.
But here’s what’s keeping you awake at night: Can you actually patent your improvement? And if you do, will the original patent holder come after you?
This guide eliminates that uncertainty. You’ll discover exactly how companies like Gillette, Apple, and Amazon turned simple improvements into billion-dollar competitive moats—and how to do the same with your innovations.
Key Takeaways
Incremental Innovation is the Norm: Improvement patents protect enhancements to existing inventions, which is significant given that the majority of patents granted each year are incremental improvements rather than groundbreaking breakthroughs. However, holding an improvement patent does not grant rights to use the original invention – you only control the improved version.
Strict Patentability Criteria Apply: Key criteria for an improvement patent include utility, novelty, and non-obviousness (inventive step). These requirements make the application process complex. In particular, the non-obviousness criterion is often the toughest hurdle – obviousness is the most common reason patent applications are initially rejected by the USPTO, so you must clearly demonstrate how your enhancement is a non-obvious technical advance. While initial rejections are common, applications can be approved after revisions and meeting the legal requirements.
Strategic Value and Challenges: Securing improvement patents can provide strategic advantages – from strengthening market position and deterring competitors to attracting investors – but it requires overcoming significant challenges in proving meaningful technical differences over prior art. Initial rejections are common, so careful preparation, robust documentation, and sometimes expert legal help are critical to success.
What Are Improvement Patents?
Improvement patents are not a distinct type of patent under U.S. law, but rather a commonly used term to describe utility patents that protect enhancements to existing technology. Unlike design patents, which cover how something looks, or plant patents, which cover new plant varieties, utility patents protect how something works—functionality, processes, and systems—including improvements that make existing inventions more efficient, reliable, or capable.
It’s important to note that most patents granted today are improvement patents, underscoring that innovation is often cumulative. In fact, industry experts observe that hundreds of thousands of patents are issued every year, and most of them concern incremental improvements of existing inventions rather than radical breakthroughs. This cumulative nature of innovation is a critical engine of progress – as a 2024 research review noted, even major scientific breakthroughs “often build on earlier research efforts,” meaning incremental innovation drives much of technology’s advancement.
However, holding an improvement patent does not automatically grant you the right to use the underlying original invention. Your patent gives you the right to prevent others from using your improved version without permission, but it doesn’t convey ownership or usage rights to the original base technology. This distinction is vital in patent law.
For example, an improvement patent could be granted for a new method that helps troubleshoot critical site errors on a WordPress website. If someone invents a more efficient way to identify and resolve website problems, such as a tool that automatically detects and fixes common WordPress errors, that method could be patentable as an improvement to existing website technology.
Before pursuing an improvement patent, it is important to review any existing patent related to the base technology to ensure your improvement is both novel and does not infringe on the existing patent.
For example, imagine an original patent covers a chair with three legs. If you invent a more stable chair with four legs, you might obtain an improvement patent on the four-legged version. That patent would let you stop others from making or selling four-legged chairs (your unique improvement). But, you would still infringe the original patent if you made or sold a chair at all without permission, because your four-legged chair includes the essential elements of the three-legged chair. In practice, this means you may need a license from the original patent owner to legally produce, use, or sell your improved product. Patent attorneys often illustrate this scenario to emphasize that a patent is a negative right – it lets you exclude others from your invention, but it doesn’t grant you freedom to use everything your invention builds upon.
Key Criteria for Improvement Patents
To qualify for an improvement patent, your invention must meet the same strict criteria as any other patent. The improvement must be useful, novel, and non-obvious, and you must adequately enable the invention in your application.
Utility: The invention must have a specific, substantial, and credible use. This is a standard requirement under U.S. law (35 U.S.C. §101) and internationally, ensuring the invention provides a tangible benefit and is not merely theoretical. U.S. Patent Office guidelines require the utility to be specific to the invention and credible (not fanciful).
Novelty: The improvement must be new, meaning it has not been previously disclosed in the “prior art.” Prior art includes any public information available before your filing date – existing patents, published papers, products on sale, presentations, etc. Be especially careful about your own disclosures: if you, as the inventor, publicly disclose the improvement (e.g. by publishing an article or selling a prototype) more than one year before filing a U.S. patent application, you lose the right to patent it in the U.S. And in most other countries, any prior public disclosure can immediately destroy novelty since there is no grace period. It is essential to determine whether your improvement is truly new and not already disclosed in the prior art before proceeding.
Non-obviousness (Inventive Step): This is often the most challenging criterion. Non-obviousness means the improvement must not be an obvious or trivial variation of what’s already known, in the eyes of a hypothetical person having ordinary skill in the relevant field. In fact, obviousness is the single most common ground for patent rejections – the vast majority of patent applications are initially rejected as obvious in the U.S. It must be determined whether the improvement is non-obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the field, requiring a thorough assessment of the existing knowledge.
Proving non-obviousness often requires emphasizing a surprising technical effect or unexpected benefit of the improvement. You may need to demonstrate that multiple prior art references would have to be combined to get your invention, and that there’s no teaching or motivation to make that combination in the way you did.
Types of Improvement Patents
The following are examples of how improvement patents can be categorized based on how they enhance existing technology. Understanding these types can help you strategize how to frame your patent and claims.
Addition Inventions: An addition invention improves an existing product or process by adding a new component, feature, or step that wasn’t present before. The goal is to augment functionality or performance. A classic example is the Gillette Mach3® razor, which added a third blade to the previously two-bladed razor design. That extra blade provided a closer shave, representing a tangible improvement over prior razors. Another example is modifying the composition of a metal alloy by adding an additional metal to enhance its strength or corrosion resistance, which can make the alloy suitable for new applications and support a patentable improvement.
Substitution Inventions: A substitution invention improves existing technology by replacing one element with a different or better element, yielding superior results. Here, the innovation lies in swapping out a component or step for an alternative that performs the function more efficiently or effectively. A famous case is Amazon’s “One-Click” checkout patent, where Jeff Bezos substituted the conventional online shopping cart process with a streamlined one-click purchasing process.
New Use Inventions: This involves finding a new application or purpose for an existing product or technology. The underlying product isn’t physically changed at all; rather, someone discovers that it can do something novel. If that new use is non-obvious, it can be patentable as an improvement (often called a “new use patent”). For instance, an ointment called Bag Balm was traditionally used to soothe cow udders – inventors later found it could treat human baldness, a completely new use of the known composition. Patenting a new use for existing products can be challenging, as it requires demonstrating novelty and non-obviousness, conducting a thorough patent search, and often working with a patent attorney to navigate the application process and meet all requirements.
Incorporating New Technology (Combination Inventions): Another powerful strategy is to integrate emerging technology into an old product to dramatically enhance its capabilities. A historical example is adding microprocessor control to devices that were previously analog – as microchips became affordable, companies retrofitted everything from thermostats to automobiles with digital controls, and many obtained improvement patents for those integrations.
Navigating the Patent Process
Filing an improvement patent application involves several critical steps, and it often requires navigating the patent office procedures with diligence.
Step 1: Conceive and Document the Improvement First, clearly identify what the improvement is and who the true inventors are. Document your invention thoroughly in lab notebooks or invention disclosure forms, describing what the improvement is, how it works, and how it differs from the prior version.
Step 2: Conduct a Prior Art Search Before you invest in a patent application, perform a comprehensive search for prior art (existing patents, publications, products, etc.) related to your base invention and your specific improvement. Reviewing existing patents is crucial to ensure your improvement is distinct and not already covered by prior art. This helps ascertain the distinctiveness of your enhancement. You may discover similar attempts by others; use that information to refine your invention or your arguments for novelty.
Step 3: Consider a Provisional Application If your improvement is at an early stage or you need more time to prepare a full application, one strategy is to start with a provisional patent application. A provisional filing is relatively quick and informal – often fewer than 10 pages focusing on a description of the invention (claims are not required) – and it secures an early filing date for your concept.
Step 4: Draft the Non-Provisional Application The non-provisional application is the full patent application that will be examined by the patent office. For an improvement patent, this application must carefully emphasize what the improvement is and how it differs from the prior art.
Step 5: File and Navigate Prosecution Once filed, be prepared for a wait: as of 2022, the average time to the first Office Action (initial examination report) was about 14.8 months, and the average total pendency to get a patent was about 23.3 months. During this time, the examiner will review your application and likely issue an Office Action. Consulting a patent attorney at this stage is highly recommended to help navigate the application process and increase your chances of securing patent protection.
Step 6: Respond to Rejections It’s actually very common for improvement patent applications to be initially rejected on grounds like obviousness or unclear claims. Don’t be discouraged – this is part of the normal process. You typically have an opportunity to amend the claims and/or argue against the examiner’s objections.
Legal Considerations
When dealing with improvement patents, there are several legal considerations beyond just obtaining the patent.
Infringement of the Basic Patent: Even if you secure an improvement patent, you must be careful not to infringe the underlying basic patent if it’s still in force. In many cases, you may need permission from the original patent holder to legally manufacture or sell improved products based on the basic patent. As noted earlier, a patent gives you exclusionary rights (a legal shield to stop others), but it does not give you affirmative rights to practice someone else’s invention. The solution is often to negotiate a licensing agreement with the original patent holder.
Licensing Opportunities: Improvement patents can open up valuable revenue opportunities. If your enhancement is something others in the industry would want to use, you can license your patented technology for royalties. The scale of patent licensing is huge – the global patent licensing market is projected to reach around $150 billion by 2024, underscoring how much value companies see in exchanging rights to technology.
Enforcement Rights: Just as you must be wary of infringing others, you have the right to enforce your own improvement patent against unauthorized users. For many startups, this legal protection is crucial for survival – it prevents bigger competitors from simply copying your value-added improvements.
Strategic Advantages of Improvement Patents
Improvement patents, when obtained and leveraged effectively, can yield numerous strategic benefits:
Enhanced Market Position: By securing patents on your improvements, you can deter competitors and establish your company as a technological leader in your field. A patented improvement creates a protective barrier around your product’s unique features – rivals can’t simply copy the enhancement without risking infringement.
Investment Appeal: Holding improvement patents sends a strong signal to investors, partners, and customers that your company is committed to innovation and has defensible IP. Studies have shown that startups with patents are much more likely to secure funding than those without. For example, a comprehensive 2022 study by the European Patent Office found that having patent applications increases a startup’s likelihood of obtaining financing by a factor of 2.5 to 4.3, depending on the stage of funding.
Long-term Protection: A utility improvement patent grants you exclusive rights for up to 20 years from the filing date (design improvements, if any, have 15 years from grant). This long-term protection is a double boon: it encourages you to publicly disclose and share your innovation (contributing to knowledge), and in return you get a multi-decade window to capitalize on it without direct imitation.
Culture of Innovation: Pursuing improvement patents can foster a culture of continuous improvement within your organization. Engineers and product developers are incentivized to keep refining and inventing, knowing that their efforts can be protected and rewarded.
Challenges in Securing Improvement Patents
While improvement patents offer many advantages, securing them comes with significant challenges:
Proving Technical Differences: The first challenge is making sure your improvement is truly new and distinct from prior art, including the original invention. Patent examiners will often initially view an improvement with skepticism: “This looks a lot like what’s already known, just tweaked.” You need detailed documentation and a compelling argument for how the improvement is novel and non-obvious.
Obviousness Rejections: As noted, non-obviousness is usually the toughest barrier. An examiner might concede your improvement hasn’t been identically disclosed (novelty) but still reject it as an obvious variation of known technology. This is a very common outcome – in fact, many improvement patent applications receive initial obviousness rejections.
Rigorous Documentation: Improvement patent applications often need especially rigorous and detailed documentation to satisfy patent examiners. You are effectively arguing that “although this invention builds on something known, there’s a detailed, non-trivial story here that merits a patent.”
Cost and Time: Obtaining any patent can be costly, but improvement patents sometimes require extra iterations (responses, maybe appeals) which add to legal fees. The challenge for many small entities is budgeting for this process. Prosecution of an improvement patent might stretch over several years.
Comparing Basic and Improvement Patents
Understanding the relationship between basic and improvement patents is crucial for strategic planning:
Nature of Protection: A basic patent (sometimes called a pioneer patent) typically covers a fundamentally new invention or concept. It often defines a broad class of products or a groundbreaking technology. In contrast, an improvement patent covers refinements or modifications of an existing invention.
Legal Relationship: The U.S. patent law has a specific provision that affects the relationship between a basic patent and an improvement patent when the same inventor (or inventors) is behind both. If the same inventive entity that obtained the basic patent files for an improvement within one year after the basic patent’s issuance, then the basic patent cannot be used as prior art to reject the improvement patent.
Patent Requirements and Global Considerations
To obtain any patent, including improvement patents, your invention must satisfy five primary requirements:
- Patentable Subject Matter: The invention must belong to a category that the law recognizes as patent-eligible
- Utility: The invention must be useful with specific, substantial, and credible utility
- Novelty: The invention must be new, with no single prior art reference disclosing all features
- Non-obviousness: The invention must represent a non-obvious advance over existing knowledge
- Enablement: The patent application must describe the invention in sufficient detail for others to make and use it
Territorial Nature of Patents: Patents are territorial, meaning they are enforceable within specific geographic areas. A patent’s rights are only applicable in the country or region in which it was granted. There is no global patent. This means you must file in each jurisdiction where you want protection.
Building Your Improvement Patent Strategy
Based on the evidence and insights from successful companies, here’s how to approach improvement patents strategically:
Start Early: Begin documenting improvements as you develop them. Keep your improvement confidential until you file, and conduct a thorough search to confirm it truly hasn’t been done before.
Focus on Non-Obviousness: When preparing your application, emphasize unexpected results, surprising technical effects, or solutions to longstanding problems. You must show that the changes you introduced would not have been obvious to another engineer or expert working on similar technology.
Consider Patent Families: Sometimes inventors will file a continuation or continuation-in-part (CIP) application while the first application is pending. A continuation allows you to pursue additional claims (perhaps broader ones or different aspects of the improvement) based on the same disclosure, giving you multiple shots at protecting the invention.
Plan Internationally: If your business involves global markets, consider filing in multiple jurisdictions. You might use mechanisms like the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) to streamline filing in multiple countries.
Conclusion: Your Path Forward
Improvement patents represent one of the most powerful tools for protecting incremental innovation and building competitive advantage. With most patents granted each year being improvements rather than breakthrough inventions, mastering this area of intellectual property law isn’t just beneficial—it’s essential for any company serious about innovation.
The path ahead requires careful preparation, strategic thinking, and often professional guidance. Start by conducting thorough prior art searches, document your improvements meticulously, and focus on articulating the non-obvious technical advantages of your enhancements. Remember that initial rejections are common, so be prepared for the iterative process of patent prosecution.
Most importantly, view improvement patents not as standalone legal documents, but as strategic business assets that can enhance your market position, attract investment, and create licensing opportunities. Companies with extensive patent portfolios are often seen as technology leaders and can more easily engage in partnerships or standard-setting because they hold key pieces of IP.
Take Action Today:
- Audit your current product improvements and identify patentable enhancements
- Implement a systematic process for documenting future improvements
- Consult with qualified patent counsel to assess your improvement patent opportunities
- Develop a filing strategy that aligns with your business goals and market expansion plans
The journey of innovation doesn’t end with a single patent—it continues with each improvement you make. By understanding and strategically using improvement patents, you can protect your innovations, build valuable IP assets, and maintain your competitive edge in an ever-evolving marketplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is an improvement patent?
A: An improvement patent is a patent that covers a modification or enhancement of an existing invention, rather than a completely new device or concept. It builds on a foundational (basic) invention by adding new features or refining aspects of it. In practice, this allows for incremental innovation: you can obtain patent protection for making a known product better, as long as your improvement is novel and non-obvious.
Q: What are the key criteria for obtaining an improvement patent?
A: The key criteria for an improvement patent are essentially the same as for any patent. Your improved invention must be: (1) Useful, (2) Novel, (3) Non-obvious, and you must (4) adequately disclose how to make and use it. The most challenging criterion is typically non-obviousness, where you must demonstrate that your enhancement would not have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the field.
Q: How do addition inventions differ from substitution inventions?
A: Addition inventions involve adding a new component or feature to an existing invention that wasn’t there before, like adding a third blade to a two-blade razor. Substitution inventions involve replacing an existing component or method with a different one that improves the product, such as Amazon’s one-click checkout replacing the traditional multi-step online shopping cart process. Both are patentable if the addition or substitution is non-obvious and novel.
Q: What are the three types of patents?
A: The three types of patents are utility patents (protecting function), design patents (protecting appearance), and plant patents (protecting new plant varieties). Improvement patents typically fall under utility patents, as they protect functional enhancements. Each type protects different aspects of innovation and has different terms and requirements.
Q: What is the strongest type of patent?
A: Generally, a utility patent is considered the strongest type of patent. Utility patents protect how an invention works or is used, which usually gives the broadest and most enforceable protection. They cover the functional aspects of an invention, meaning competitors can infringe even if their product looks different, as long as it works the same way. Utility patents have a 20-year term from filing and are typically the most valuable for licensing and enforcement.
Q: What are the 5 requirements of a patent?
A: The five requirements for patentability are:
- Patentable Subject Matter: The invention must belong to a category recognized as patent-eligible
- Utility: The invention must have a specific, substantial, and credible use
- Novelty: The invention must be new, with no single prior art reference disclosing all features
- Non-obviousness: The invention must represent a non-obvious advance over existing knowledge
- Enablement: The patent application must describe the invention in sufficient detail for others to make and use it
Remember that patents are territorial, meaning they are only enforceable in the countries where you’ve secured protection. There is no such thing as a global patent, so you must file in each jurisdiction where you want rights.
