Patent Law

Abstract Patents are the means by which inventors protect the rights to their inventions. Almost every country has a patent granting office, which after some level of review or examination, grants a patent to the inventor (or applicant) for a limited term, in return for the inventor's teaching or explaining the invention, its use and/or its manufacture. A patent grants the holder a right to exclude others from making or using the patented invention, but does not grant the holder the right to practice the invention. To be patentable in the U.S., an invention must be novel and not obvious in view of current knowledge in the particular field, and the invention must be useful. In the United States, “anything under the sun that is made by man” is patentable.