What is a patent?
A patent is a grant of property right by a Patent Authority, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All countries in the world provide inventors with a right, for a limited time, to prevent others from making, using, selling, or offering to sell his/her invention. In the U.S. and in many other countries, the term of a patent is 20 years from the date the first patent application is filed. Patents are intended to foster innovation by providing an incentive to make inventions public (through publication of the issued patent). Inventors are allowed the right to control their invention for a specific length of time in exchange for disclosing the best mode of making and using the invention to the public.
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. There are three types of patents: a. Utility patens may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof; b. Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; and c. Plant patens may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.
According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the right conferred by the patent grant is “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” an invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) grant three different types of patents: Utility Patents, Design Patents, and Plant Patents. The most common patent granted to Harvard is a Utility Patent, which is defined as any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. For example, a new drug for the treatment of cancer would be a considered a composition of matter and therefore filed as a utility patent.
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. US patent grants are effective only within the US, US territories, and US possessions. The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention in the United States or importing the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention.
In some countries (like United States) there are three kinds of patent — utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. A patent permits its owner to exclude members of the public from making, using, or selling the claimed invention. Most countries of the world have patent systems, although the patent terms and types of patents vary. A common misconception is that the patent gives its owner the right to make, use, or sell the invention. It only gives the owner the ability to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention. The patent owner may be forbidden from using the invention, usually due to the existence of another patent, or sometimes due to other legal restrictions. To illustrate this principle, consider the following common case: Person 1 patents an invention. Person 2 later patents an improvement to the invention. In order to make, use, or sell the improved invention, one may need permission from 1 (due to the patent on the original invention), and also permi
