A stepbystep overview of a patent application and maintenance process. The five stages of a patent process.This page provides information on the types of patents and types of patent applications, and the examination process. This breakdown will help you to fill out your disclosure, as well as outline key points that you may need to consider. 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? 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.