Patents

Patent is a form of intellectual property(IP) in United States law that precludes other parties from using said property. Although the United States patent originated in April 10, 1790 under the first patent act "An Act to promote the progress of useful Arts", the concept of the patent has been traced back to the Venetian Patent Statue of 1474 in Ancient Greece.The patent law system is designed to encourage innovation by incentivizing technological advance with exclusive rights in exchange for public disclosure. Many industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry, rely on patent law as a major source of competitive advantage. All United States patents are granted through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Legal

There are three patentability requirements that must be met in order to form a legal patent: the invention is novel, useful, and non-obvious. In addition to the general requirements, the patent must also be accompanied by a list of claims that define the patent. The claims are technical requirements and outline what features are legally protected by the patent.

If goods are used or sold by another party that violate the claims set forth under a granted patent without the permission of the patent holder, the violating party is infringing the patent and there is grounds for a lawsuit. Patent infringement is a civil law and therefore requires action by the plaintiff to be brought to court. Patents differ by country and therefore patented inventions are free to exploit outside of the controlling government's jurisdiction.

When a patent issue is brought forth, the plaintiff may utilize the following defenses:

• Non-infringement
• Invalidating the patent
• Patent abuse
• Prior use or First Sale Doctrine

The case then proceeds as a standard case in the court of law until either a settlement is reached or the court reaches a decision on the case.

Types of Patents

The three main types of patents are utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. A short-term provisional patent can also be granted during the processing time of each of the above patents. Provisional patents protects the intellectual property of the owner during the patent application process provided the owner can prove they were both in possession of the patent and shown successful use of the invention in a less formal document. Provisional patent protection lasts one year.

Utility Patents

The utility patent is the purest form of the traditional patent outlined in its legal definition. The utility patent exists as a comprehensive technical document of claims that acts both as the public disclosure and scope of the patent. Details such as how to use the invention and its mechanisms are included. The utility patent applies to a wide range of inventions including machines, processes, manufactured goods, and compositions of matter (e.g. pharmaceuticals). Utility patents last 20 years.

Design Patents

Design patents make ornamental design on a useful item into intellectual property and seek to eliminate very close imitation of a novel product. Design patent documents are largely composed of drawings of the submitted design and contain few words. A patent infringement on design patents are not necessarily an exact copy but must only be substantially similar. Design patents last 14 years.

Plant Patents

Plant patents are, as the name denotes, a patent on a plant species created through non-sexual means. Plant patents protect plants created through conventional horticulture and generally do not cover genetically modified organisms. A plant patent lasts 20 years.