Patents are granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The US Patent and Trademark Office is, in the United States, a national patent office. Most countries have either a national patent office or a regional patent office. The European Union has a regional patent office, the European Patent Office. Africa has a regional patent office: the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization. Different regions and countries have either national offices which are within their country which govern how patents are protected or regional offices based in either multiple countries or within the same country. Countries like India have multiple patent offices in the same country. Those are the primary regulatory authorities that grant patents around the world.