Definitions
What Is a Patent?
A patent is a grant from the U.S. government giving its owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing the claimed invention for a limited term.
A patent is a grant from the United States government giving its owner the right to exclude others from making, using, offering to sell, selling, or importing the claimed invention for a limited term. Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement of one, may obtain a patent for it, subject to the conditions and requirements of the patent statute (35 U.S.C. § 101).
The term of a utility patent is 20 years from the filing date of the application, subject to adjustment and extension as the statute provides (35 U.S.C. § 154(a)(1)-(2)). A patent is a right to exclude, not a right to practice the invention; other law may still restrict how an invention is used. The application process, including examination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the duties of disclosure that run with it, is explained in the site's patent application guide.
Pinpoint: 35 U.S.C. §§ 101, 154(a)(1). Related term: Patent.
Sources.
- 35 U.S.C. § 101: inventions patentable. law.cornell.edu
- 35 U.S.C. § 154: contents and term of a patent. law.cornell.edu
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