A patent is a form of intellectual property (IP) protection that is designed to protect inventions; creative works (such as books and musical recordings) are protected by copyright. U.S. patents protect inventors for 20 years, during which time the holder—not necessarily the same person as the inventor—can exclude others from making use of the technology that the protects. Patent applications are subject to an examination, in which examiners attempt to determine whether the invention is truly novel (that is, whether it is an attempt to existing technology, called prior art) and whether the invention’s novelty if it exists, is sufficiently significant to warrant the patent’s issuance. See copyright, business process patent, patentable subject matter, software patent, trade secret.
Technipages Explains Patent
A patent is a law that allows an individual or group of individuals to own an invention, and this could be a piece of technology, theorems, or regulations. Patents are granted to designs that are useful, un-ambiguous, and new. If a patent is granted, a fee has to be paid to maintain the patent, or else it is abandoned.
A patent is granted to the first person to apply for it, in a case of multiple inventors. When a patent is granted, it applies for 20 years, starting from the date of application. A patent does not allow any other person to commercialize the product for that period. On the expiration of the patent, it is then made available for public use, from which anyone can modify, rebrand, or sell it. A patent cannot be re-applied for.
Early patent law required that before the invention is submitted alongside the application for the patent. After the patent has been filed for, a patent examination is initiated in which the patent office examines the patent to examine the patentability of the invention. The public is sometimes involved in helping to determine the patency of an invention by recognizing prior arts, as this would help to show the originality of an invention.
Common Uses of Patent
- Before a patent is awarded, after its application, an examination is carried out to verify the novelty of the invention
- If a patent is granted, the period of a patent lasts for 20 years, starting from the day the patent was applied
- In a case where there are a lot of inventors for a product, and the person files a patent gets to be the one who keeps the product
Common Misuses of Patent
- A patent examination does not work with the public to make findings as to recognizing if there has been any prior look-alike invention.
- One interesting fact to know is that most scientists refuse to file for a patent for their newly discovered technique, products, etc. to make the cost of it reaching the public cheaper