What Are Patents?
Patents are government-issued licenses that protect the inventor of a specific creation, providing an opportunity to realize the economic fruits of the invention. The patent process is fairly complicated, and involves establishing the primacy of the inventor, the novelty of the invention and the truth behind its performance claims. During the life of the patent, everyone else is legally prohibited from copying or selling the invention without permission from the inventor.
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History
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The U.S. Constitution says Congress can "promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." One of the means by which Congress achieves this goal is through patents. A law governing patents was one of the first enacted by the new national government in 1790. Ever since, patent protection has been an essential feature of science and the economy, and a delicate issue in international business relations.
Types
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There are three main types of patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO), reflecting three major areas of innovation. Utility patents are granted to inventors of a new, original process, machine or composition of matter, or those who significantly improve on an existing one, for example, a better mousetrap. A design patent protects work that is a novel ornamental design for articles of manufacture, say a new ergonomic chair. Those who invent or discover a new plant variety, hybrid or mutant, like genetically modified corn, can have their work protected by a plant patent.
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Features
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The holders of patents have exclusive use to their invention, and can exclude others from producing or selling the object inside the United States. Traditionally, patents were only enforceable in the United States, but a system of global patents has emerged, and an international patent can be issued by the USPTO. Patents, however, are not enforced by any central body. Instead, inventors themselves must bring lawsuits or other legal claims to stop illegal use of their invention, and possibly win financial compensation.
Time Frame
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The Constitution says protections for inventors shall be for a limited time, but the length of that time has been an issue of debate throughout history. The generally accepted term of a patent now is 20 years (with exceptions for some patent types). Once the patent expires, the inventor can no longer prevent others from copying, using or selling his invention. Extensions are sometimes available, but rare, because fostering competition at the end of a patent tends to be in the public's interest and lowers prices. A major example of this is generic drugs, essentially copies of once patented pharmaceuticals, which can be manufactured and sold very cheaply once the patent expires on the original drug.
Considerations
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Only physical objects can be patented: machines or physical matter. Ideas, concepts and abstractions cannot be patented. With the exception of new plants species, natural discoveries cannot be patented, such as the law of gravity. Another limitation on patent law is the insistence that the object of a patent be "useful." This restriction was used to prevent the patent of devices whose sole application was for producing atomic weapons, a purpose not deemed useful for society.
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