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A patent is a government
granted right that allows the inventor to exclude anyone
else from making, using or selling the invention in the
country that issued the patent. The government grants this
right to help encourage inventors to spend the time, money
and effort to invent new products, technologies and the
like.
In the United States, the
term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which
the application for the patent was filed or, in special
cases, from the date an earlier related application was
filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.
When a patent expires, the
invention enters the "public domain" allowing
anyone to make, use or sell the invention without needing
the permission or paying any royalty to the inventor. The
government requires patents to expire because otherwise
one person can control an entire industry if that person
was the first to conceive of a type of product.
The patent law specifies
the general field of subject matter that can be patented
and the conditions under which a patent for an invention
may be obtained. Any person who “invents or discovers
any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or
composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement
thereof, may obtain a patent,” subject to the conditions
and requirements of the law.
In order for an invention
to be patentable it must be new as defined in the patent
law, which provides that an invention cannot be patented
if: “(a) the invention was known or used by others in
this country, or patented or described in a printed
publication in this or a foreign country, before the
invention thereof by the applicant for patent,” or
“(b) the invention was patented or described in a
printed publication in this or a foreign country or in
public use or on sale in this country more than one year
prior to the application for patent.
If the invention had been
described in a printed publication anywhere in the world,
or if it has been in public use or on sale in this country
before the date that the applicant made his/her invention,
a patent cannot be obtained. If the invention had been
described in a printed publication anywhere, or has been
in public use or on sale in this country more than one
year before the date on which an application for patent is
filed in this country, a patent cannot be obtained.
In this connection it is
immaterial when the invention had been made, or whether
the printed publication or public use was by the inventor
himself/herself or by someone else. If the inventor
describes the invention in a printed publication or uses
the invention publicly, or places it on sale, he/she must
apply for a patent before one year has gone by, otherwise
any right to a patent for an invention will be lost. The
inventor must file on the date of public use or
disclosure, however, in order to preserve patent rights in
many foreign countries.
According to the law, only
the inventor may apply for a patent for his or her
invention, with certain exceptions. If the inventor is
dead, the application may be made by legal
representatives, that is, the administrator or executor of
the estate. If the inventor is insane, the application for
patent for an invention may be made by a guardian. If an
inventor refuses to apply for a patent for his or her
inventions, or cannot be found, a joint inventor or, if
there is no joint inventor available, a person having a
proprietary interest in the invention may apply on behalf
of the non-signing inventor.
If two or more persons make
an invention jointly, they apply for a patent as joint
inventors. A person who makes only a financial
contribution for the invention is not a joint inventor and
cannot be joined in the application as an inventor.
Additional information on
how to patent an invention is available at http://www.newideatrade.com.
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