Patent rights are granted by national governments to inventors who prove their invention is novel, useful, industrially applicable, and non-obvious. The rights allow the inventor to exclude others from using the invention without permission, but do not give the inventor the right to use it freely. The patent can expire after 20 years and is limited to the country granting the rights. Patent rights are distinct from copyrights, trademark rights, and design rights.
Patent rights are a specific set of rights granted to an inventor to credit him as creator and creator of a specific invention. The inventor receives the rights from the national government. In the United States, patent documents are signed by the Patent and Trademark Commissioner and bear the seal of the Patent and Trademark Office for authenticity. Once the rights have been granted, the inventor can claim to “exclude others from creating, using, offering for sale or selling the invention”.
To obtain patent rights, an inventor must first prove that his invention has not yet been invented or patented. It should also be useful and have industrial applicability. The invention should also possess non-obviousness, meaning that an average person shouldn’t immediately know what it’s supposed to be used for. These four characteristics – novelty, utility, industrial applicability and non-obviousness – should all be demonstrated in an invention before it is patented. The lack of a feature could result in the invention becoming unpatented. The inventor should also write a patent disclosure, a document that extensively describes the invention, both in words and with illustrations.
An inventor can get the right to prohibit any individual or company from using his invention without permission, but it ultimately does not give him the right to use the invention freely. The use of the inventions is still enclosed within any applicable law. For example, an inventor cannot drive his newly invented car without a license. Patent rights are generally limited within the country granting the rights. This means that an inventor would also have to apply for a patent in other countries if he wants more protection for his invention.
Even the granting of patent rights can have an expiration date. In the United States and some European countries, the term of the patent can last 20 years, starting from the application date. During this period, the inventor should pay the required maintenance fees regularly. Patents can be renewed if the inventor wishes. Otherwise, he can sell the rights, transfer them to another person or simply abandon them.
Patent rights are similar to, but distinct from, other rights such as copyrights, trademark rights, and design rights. While patent rights are granted to inventors and inventions, copyrights are granted to authors and published works. Trademark rights are granted for the exclusive use of a symbol, while design rights protect a product design that has artistic value.
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