PATENTS

Protection for Your Invention

by Joelle Steele

According to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the power to enact laws that "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." Among those laws are those that pertain to copyrights, patents, and trademarks. These laws each protect intellectual properties, those intangible creations of the mind made tangible, such as books (copyright), inventions (patent), and business logos (trademark). Patents are obtained through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and here's an explanation of how they protect inventions.

PATENT PURPOSE

Patents are rights granted to an inventor by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in exchange for disclosing their new invention to the public. The patent is for a limited time and gives the inventor a monopoly on the invention during that time, usually 20 years from the date the patent is filed. The original purpose of a patent was to give incentive and encouragement to people to invent new things.

WHAT CAN BE PATENTED

There are three kinds of patents: design, plant, and utility. Design patents are for an original and ornamental design for a manufactured item. Plant patents are for horticulturists who discover or breed a new plant variety. Utility patents are for new and utilitarian machines or processes, manufactured items, and improvements to products. In other words, patented inventions include machines, processes, methods, chemical compositions, manufactured items and, in general, almost any man-made product. However, inventions that have been previously described in print or were in use more than a year before a patent was applied for can not be granted a patent.

APPLYING FOR A PATENT

The process of security a patent requires a lengthy and complicated application process. There are fewer patents being approved these days, yet there is a huge backlog on getting a patent granted. This is largely due to the fact that, like a copyright, a patent is not granted based on an idea. It must be something tangible. This means that to obtain a patent, an inventor must provide a complete and detailed description of the item for which the patent is sought. And, if an inventor publishes or describes his publication in print and makes it accessible to the public or sells it to the public, then he/she has only a year in which to apply for a patent or risk losing the patent. The description on the application for a patent must match the invention and not be substantially different to an individual who is an expert in its manufacture. If two or more people are co-inventors (not mere investors), they can apply jointly.

OWNERSHIP

Inventors own their inventions and they are granted the patents. Before an inventor applies for a patent, they usually do a considerable amount of research into existing patents to make sure there is not already a patent on their invention. It is possible for two people to come up with the same invention almost simultaneously. Inventors can choose to assign their patent rights to another person or a business. Employees are often required to assign their patents to their employers, and inventors can also license their patents to a company. A United States patent is effective only within the United States, its territories and possessions.

PATENT INFRINGEMENT

Like copyrights, patents can be infringed, whether intentionally or not. Since patent rights "exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling" an invention, infringement occurs when another inventor completely duplicates an existing patented invention (similar to plagiarism under copyright law), or uses a part of a patented invention to create another invention (similar to creating a derivative under copyright law). If it becomes necessary to take legal action, a patent holder may have to go to federal court and seek an injunction to stop the infringing party from producing their product, and there may additionally be fines or penalties assessed on the infringer. When the patent is still in dispute, the decision of a district court can be appealed to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Government may use a patented invention without permission of the patent holder, but they must compensate the patent holder for the use of their invention.