What is Patent?

 

It is possible to obtain a patent for an innovation, which grants its owner the legal right to prevent others from manufacturing it, using it, or selling it for a limited period of years in exchange for publishing an enabling public disclosure describing the invention. To enforce patent rights in most countries, the patent holder must file a lawsuit against the person who has infringed on the patent in order to get a court order. Patents are an important source of competitive advantage in certain industries, whereas they are largely unimportant in others.

According to national laws and international agreements, the method for issuing patents, the conditions imposed on the patentee, and the extent of the exclusive rights vary considerably from country to country. As a rule of thumb, a patent application must contain one or more claims that specify the extent of the intellectual property protection that is being sought. A patent may contain a number of claims, each of which specifies a different type of property right. These claims must satisfy a number of patentability standards, which in the United States include novelty, usefulness, and non-obviousness, among other criteria.

According to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) TRIPS Agreement, patents should be available in WTO member states for any invention, in any field of technology, as long as it is new, involves an inventive step, and is capable of industrial application. However, there are differences in what is patentable subject matter from country to country and among WTO member states, depending on the country. Also stipulated in TRIPS is that the period of protection offered shall be a minimum of twenty years in duration.