For other uses, see Patent (disambiguation).
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A patent is a form of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, selling, and importing an invention for a limited period of years, in exchange for publishing an enabling public disclosure of the invention. In most countries patent rights fall under civil law and the patent holder needs to sue someone infringing the patent in order to enforce his or her rights. In some industries patents are an essential form of competitive advantage; in others they are irrelevant.[1]:17
The procedure for granting patents, requirements placed on the patentee, and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international agreements. Typically, however, a granted patent application must include one or more claims that define the invention. A patent may include many claims, each of which defines a specific property right. These claims must meet relevant patentability requirements, such as novelty, usefulness, and non-obviousness.[2][3]
Under the World Trade Organization's (WTO) TRIPS Agreement, patents should be available in WTO member states for any invention, in all fields of technology, provided they are new, involve an inventive step, and are capable of industrial application.[4] Nevertheless, there are variations on what is patentable subject matter from country to country, also among WTO member states. TRIPS also provides that the term of protection available should be a minimum of twenty years.[5]
U.S. patent
Patent law
Overviews
Patents History Economics Societal views
Basic concepts
Application Prosecution Opposition Licensing Infringement Valuation Patent claims
Patentability
Novelty Inventive step and non-obviousness Inventorship Industrial applicability Patentable subject matter Person skilled in the art Prior art Utility
Additional requirements
Sufficiency of disclosure Unity of invention
By region / country
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Australia Canada China Europe Germany Japan Netherlands United States
By specific subject matter
Biological Business method Chemical Insurance Software Tax
See also
Category Glossary
vte
Part of a series on
Capitalism
Concepts[hide]
Business Business cycle Businessperson Capital Capital accumulation Capital markets Capitalist mode of production Company Corporation Competitive markets Economic interventionism Economic surplus Entrepreneurship Fictitious capital Financial market Free price system Free market Goods and services Investor Invisible hand Liberalization Marginalism Money Private property Privatization Profit Rent seeking Supply and demand Surplus value Value Wage labour
Economic systems[show]
Economic theories[show]
Origins[show]
Development[show]
People[show]
Related topics[show]
Ideologies[show]
Capitalism portal
Economics portal
Philosophy portal
Politics portal
Money portal
vte
A patent is a form of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, selling, and importing an invention for a limited period of years, in exchange for publishing an enabling public disclosure of the invention. In most countries patent rights fall under civil law and the patent holder needs to sue someone infringing the patent in order to enforce his or her rights. In some industries patents are an essential form of competitive advantage; in others they are irrelevant.[1]:17
The procedure for granting patents, requirements placed on the patentee, and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international agreements. Typically, however, a granted patent application must include one or more claims that define the invention. A patent may include many claims, each of which defines a specific property right. These claims must meet relevant patentability requirements, such as novelty, usefulness, and non-obviousness.[2][3]
Under the World Trade Organization's (WTO) TRIPS Agreement, patents should be available in WTO member states for any invention, in all fields of technology, provided they are new, involve an inventive step, and are capable of industrial application.[4] Nevertheless, there are variations on what is patentable subject matter from country to country, also among WTO member states. TRIPS also provides that the term of protection available should be a minimum of twenty years.[5]