Two microstrip patch antenna designs in the range of 11–17 GHz are simulated and fabricated. The proposed designs have advantages over the conventional E- and H-shaped designs in terms of gain and return loss. An input match of −40.5 dB at 11.94 GHz, and intermediate gain of 10.0 dB is achieved at 14.85 GHz. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:1395–1400, 2015