In filing a patent application and paying required fees, the USPTO provides forms and an electronic filing tool. A stepbystep overview of a patent application and maintenance process.The five stages of a patent process. This article, however, provides an overview of the patent application and prosecution process (ie, working with the patent examiner). The patent prosecution process can vary based on the specifics of each application. The patent prosecution process is an applicant's or their representative's interaction with the concerned patent office to secure a patent for their invention. Prosecution of Application. Each non-provisional patent application filed in the USPTO is submitted to a patent examiner for consideration. The attorney may conduct a prior art search and then prepares and files the application in the required USPTO format. 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?