Getting a patent through the approval process takes diligence, patience and time, often years.
The Patent Approval Process
If you’re ready to patent your invention, you’re likely asking yourself “How long does it take to get a patent approved?” The answer to that depends on a number of factors including but not limited to, whether or not you use a patent attorney, how responsive they are, how many tries it takes to submit the proper paperwork, diagrams, illustrations, media, who has to review your application, what the waiting list is and how much time it takes to issue the approved patent.
Note: If you aren’t sure if you need a patent, copyright or a trademark, refer to the articles The Difference Between a Patent and a Trademark and The Difference Between a Copyright and a Trademark.
The First Three to Six Months
The first thing you’ll need to do is to decide how you’re going to perform the patent search (to prove your invention is unique), what patent attorney you’ll use or how you will go about filing for the patent yourself, and who will create the required drawings and illustrations for the patent office and fill out the paperwork. Depending on your choices, expect to spend 3-6 months on these tasks.
The Next Year (or Two, or Three)
After performing a patent search and filing the proper paperwork, expect to wait at least a year for the review process to complete. You may receive correspondence from the patent office requiring you to send additional information. Currently, there’s a backlog at the patent office and it could take two to three years for your patent to be finalized. 
Acceptance or Denial
After the review process is complete your patent will be approved or denied. If the patent is approved, expect to wait anywhere from 3 months to a year for the issuance of the patent. Keep in touch with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during this time; don’t let your patent get lost in the shuffle.
Bottom Line: The bottom line is that you should expect the patent process to take 2-3 years.