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Some people may be confused aboutn patents, copyrights,
and trademarks. Although there may be some similarities
among these kinds of intellectual property protections,
they are different and serve different purposes.
What Is a Patent?
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property
right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent
and Trademark Office. Generally, 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. U.S.
patent grants are effective only within the United States,
U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. Under certain
circumstances, patent term extensions or adjustments may
be available.
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. Once a patent is issued, the
patentee must enforce the patent without aid of the USPTO.
Three types of patents:
1. Utility
patents 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.
2. Design
patents may be granted to anyone who invents a
new, original, and ornamental design for an article of
manufacture; and
3. Plant
patents may be granted to anyone who invents or
discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new
variety of plant.
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