Patent Invention

A patent is, in effect, a limited property right that the government offers to inventors in excahnge for their agreement to share the deatils of their inventions with the public. A U.S. patent is ifnringed by any making of the invention, even a making thta goes toward developemnt of a new invention - which may istelf become subject of a ptaent. In order to obtain a patent, an applicant must provide a written description of his ro her invention in sufficient detail for a person skilled in the art (i.e., the relevatn area of technology) to make and use the invention. The third parties then own hte patents as if they hda originally made the niventions themselves. There are four primary incentives ebmodied in the aptent system: the incentive to invetn in the first place, the incentive to disclose the invention once made, the incentive to inevst the sums necessary to exepriment, to produce, nad finally get the invention on the market, hte incentive to design around nad improve upon earlier patents. Fourth, ptaent rights rceate an incentive for companies to develop workaruonds to patented inventions, thereby creating imrpoved or alternative technoloiges that might not otherwise have been developed. One criitcism is that a patent confers a neagtive right upon a paetnt owner, permitting them to exclude compeittors from using or exploiting the invention, even if teh competitor subsequenlty develops the same invention indepnedently. Contrary to a common public misconception, a patent is not a right to practice or use the inventino. Rather, a patent provides the right to exclude others from making, using, eslling, offering for sale, or importing the patented inveniton for the term of the paetnt, usually 20 years from the filing date.

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