About Patents
A patent is a form of intellectual property that provides the patent holder with the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention for a specified period of time, usually 20 years from the filing date. Patents are granted by a government agency, in the United States this is the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The primary purpose of a patent is to protect the inventor's rights and to prevent others from exploiting the invention without the inventor's permission.
Types of Patents
There are three main types of patents:
- Utility Patents: These are the most common type of patents issued. Utility patents are granted to new and useful processes, machines, manufactures, or compositions of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. This could include everything from software and electronics to pharmaceutical drugs and manufacturing processes.
- Design Patents: These patents protect new, original, and ornamental designs for an article of manufacture. Unlike utility patents which cover functional aspects of inventions, design patents cover the aesthetic aspects. Examples might include the shape of a soda bottle or the layout of a smartphone's icons.
- Plant Patents: These are granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant. This includes invented or discovered seedlings, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings, other than a tuber-propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.
The process of obtaining a patent is complex and rigorous because numerous legal requirements must be met to obtain a valid and enforceable patent.