Patent on remote sensor monitoring found partially invalid. EMERSON v. SIPCO To be granted a patent in the United States an inventor must submit a patent application to United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent application will be reviewed by an examining attorney at the USPTO. The examining attorney will review the patent application ensure that the invention described in the patent application meets all the criteria for a patented to be granted. One of the primary jobs that an examining attorney performs is to review prior art. Prior art is information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date that might be relevant to a patent’s claims of originality.