What Is the Statute of Limitations on a Patent?
Patents are guarantees of exclusive use of ideas, processes or technology. The holder of a patent has exclusive use of the subject of the patent for a specified length of time. There are several types of patents and each type has specific characteristics.
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Function
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As defined in the Constitution in Article I, section 8, a patent serves to "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." Patents serve as both protection for the holder and motivation for future applicants. With substantial amounts of time and money invested in research, corporations and individuals desire some promise of profitability from their investment. Patents guarantee that the creators will enjoy financial gains or, at least, a period of no competition.
Types
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The three types of patents are utility, design and plant. Utility patents are granted to discoverers or creators of new compositions of matter, machines, processes or articles of manufacture. Utility patents may also be assigned to creators of new and useful improvements of the above. Design patents are granted to "anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture" according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Plant patents "may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant."
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Time Frame
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When patents expire, the subject of the patent becomes public domain; the patented item is no longer subject to exclusive use by the patent holder. Plant patents have a life of 20 years beginning with the date of filing. Design patents are valid for fourteen years from the filing. Utility patents are limited to 20 years with exceptions allowed for drugs, additives and medical devices. These types of utility patents may be extended for five years. (See Reference 3)
Limitations
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The statute of limitations involved in bringing a patent infringement lawsuit is referred to as the period of enforceability. The period of enforceability is defined as the term of the patent plus six years. After this time, the patent holder may no longer bring suit for patent infringement.
Considerations
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There are five criteria to determine if an invention is eligible for patenting. The first is enablement, a written description of the invention and the process of using or making it. To satisfy the requirement of novelty, an invention must be unique and not have been described in printed material in the U.S. or other countries. The criterion of utility requires the invention be useful. Nonobviousness, according to Cornell Law School, is whether the invention "would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made." The fifth qualifier is whether the invention falls under patentable subject matter. In Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the Supreme Court declared anything under the sun made by man is patentable. The broad classifications are any process, composition of matter, machine, methods of manufacture or improvements of any of those.
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References
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