Sangamon Sun

The longest time between a patent being filed and granted in the week ending Aug. 21 in Elkhart was 1,288 days, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The patent application was filed by Qing Yuan for a vehicle marker light cover. It was filed on Feb. 6, 2018 before being approved on Aug. 17, 2021.

It was the only patent approved in the week ending Aug. 21 from Elkhart.

Though patents are required for inventions and products, the granting of a patent is not a guarantee for success. Dennis Crouch, co-director of the Center for Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship said roughly 50 percent of patents expire prematurely due to costs.

Applicant Name	Filing Date	Granted Date
Qing Yuan	2018-02-06	2021-08-17