35 U.S.C. 102(b): A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (b) the invention was… in public use… in this country, more than one year prior to the date of the application for patent in the United States. In other words, if you have publicly used your invention, you have one year to file a patent application for the invention. Public use is not limited to commercial use, but commercial use is one example of a public use. Failure to do so will cause you to permanently lose your rights to protect your invention. It is also important to know that while the U.S. patent laws provide you a one year grace period, any public use of your invention may immediately prevent you from protecting your invention in any other country.