Introduction to Patent Law
In the United States a patent is the only effective method for an inventor to prevent others from practicing the invention. Litigation is often necessary to prevent infringement of the patent. Patent litigation is an expensive and frequently painful process to endure.In the United States a patent is the only effective method for an inventor to prevent others from practicing the invention. Litigation is often necessary to prevent infringement of the patent. Patent litigation is an expensive and frequently painful process to endure.
Patents are available in three categories – utility, design and plant. Utility patents are for the protection of inventions of structure, function, chemical composition, method or process. The utility category covers all forms of structural, mechanical, electro-mechanical, electrical, electronic and any combination of these basic categories. Design patents are for the aesthetic merits of the design and plant patents for plants.
Patentability for a utility application is based on novelty and utility of the new invention compared to the entire universe of known devices or structures. Once an application is filed and accepted by the U.S. Patent Office for filing, the application is forwarded to a patent examiner who is skilled in the field to which the application most relates.
The patent examiner reviews the application for formal and substantive merit. The typical course after this review is for the patent examiner to send a letter to the applicant rejecting the application on both formal and substantive grounds. The applicant then has both the right and the opportunity to respond to the examiner’s grounds for rejection and to explain why the examiner is incorrect and to amend the application to make it acceptable for issuance as a patent. The patent examiner will then review the applicant’s response and prepare another letter either passing the application to allowance or further rejecting the application. The applicant then has a range of possible responses to the examiner. Most often, if the applicant is well informed about the field to which the invention relates and has passed that information to the examiner the application will be allowed.
The rules of the Patent Office related to this exchange of correspondence with the applicant are somewhat complicated. Although the applicant is able to file and prosecute his or her own patent application, the Patent Office, for good reason, encourages the applicant to employ a registered patent attorney or agent.
U.S. patents are valid for limited periods of time and are not renewable. The extension of patent life can be effectively achieved by inventing and patenting later improvements on the original patented device. In short, an entity determined to base its commercial success on patents will need to acquire a number of patents, preferably, in a related field to effectively block competition legally. There are numerous examples of enterprises which became highly successful based in part on patent ownership. Consider for example, Kodak, Xerox, Polaroid, Goodyear, General Motors, Intel, Hewlett-Packard to name but a few.
Patent protection in countries outside of the United States may be based on applications filed in the United States as governed by one or more treaties between the countries of interest. Obtaining and maintaining foreign patents is somewhat expensive. Patent litigation is foreign countries is almost always a difficult and expensive task for individuals and small companies.
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