It is concluded that both atrial contraction and passive right ventricular filling produce blood flow in the pulmonary artery. A stepbystep overview of a patent application and maintenance process.The five stages of a patent process. A guide to help ASU students find patent information including what is a patent, the different sections of a patent, how to do a prior art search. This tutorial will focus on patents and the process for securing a patent in the U.S. First, let's consider why we have a patent system? The State of Arizona Research Library is Arizona's designated Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC).