Do you know what a patent is? Do you know the purpose of a patent? In this article we explain what a patent is, what a patent does, and why you would want one.
Patents are protection for intellectual property created by invention. They are a form of intellectual property, like trademarks and copyrights. For additional information on intellectual property, this article discusses the differences between trademarks and patents.
Explaining Patents
A patent is protection for the creator of an invention.
Like copyright, it also gives exclusive rights to the inventor. Unlike copyright, inventing something does not provide automatic protection for the invention; a patent must be applied for through a process. Patents are also for much shorter periods of time than copyright now covers, although copyright was originally for a similarly short time period.
A patented invention is marked with the word patent, and the assigned number of the patent. Some are marked US Patent, and a number, indicating it was patented in the United States. One object can be covered by more than one patent, as in the c
ase of a computer. After a patent application is filed, an applicant is allowed to mark a product patent pending, but that does not convey any legal protection. It is illegal to mark an object as patented if it does not have a patent.
The United States Constitution provides Congress the ability to make laws covering patents. Patents in the US are overseen by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Certain types of patents can now be filed electronically in the United States.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization,
An invention is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem. In order to be patentable, the invention must fulfill certain conditions. The protection is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years.
There are di
fferent types of patents, depending on the type of invention, but there are three main types. These are Utility patents, Design Patents, and Plant patents. Within thise categories there can be divisions depending on what the patent covers, including software patents. Patents can also be made for hire, if there is an agreement for assigning the rights in the contract between employee and an employer.
According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office:
- Utility patents are given to inventions of articles, processes, machines, composition of matter, or new and useful improvements to any of these things.
- Design patents are for new, original or ornamental designs for things that can be manufactured. They are given for a 14-year period.
- Plant patents are for inventing or discovering and asexually reproducing new or distinct varieties of plants. Biopiracy is the practice of patenting plant resources that were already known and often had traditional uses in emerging countries.
Patents are generally not extended, but there are some exceptions.
Reproducing Information from Patents
Issued Patents, such as the images from patents shown in this article, are public domain government information. Images of the of the entire database of US patents are available online through the USPTO website, and now can also be searched for on Google. The images in this article are reproduced from Google Patents beta, which is hosting a copy of the USPTO database.
On the next page, we explore the purposes of patents in more detail.
The Differences Between a Copyright and a Patent
How Do Copyright and Patent Differ, What is the Purpose of a Patent, What is the Purpose of a Copyright