What is a Patent, and How Does it Protect My Invention

1. WHAT IS A PATENT, AND HOW DOES IT PROTECT MY INVENTION?

2. A patent is intellectual property protection granted by the government to an inventor for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of an invention. The term "patent" covers both trademarks and copyright, which are special cases of patents relating to areas beyond inventions. A patent provides protection against any third party making, using or selling the patented invention without permission. You can apply for a patent yourself or hire a professional to do it for you. For more visit: www.albright-ip.co.uk/2017/09/how- to-patent-an-idea

3. 1. THE PROCESS OF GETTING A PATENT A patent is a legal document that grants inventors the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or distributing their invention for a limited period of time. In order to get a patent, you have to file a patent application with the USPTO. That application consists of at least one page with drawings and a description of the invention.Patents are interesting because they are treated differently from copyright and trademark. While both apply in determining ownership of content, they are treated in dramatically different ways. As a quick analogy, copyright protects original works, while patent protects newly invented information. How is this relevant to content? If someone copies your content, infringes your copyright, or otherwise harms your intellectual property, you can go after that person with a lawsuit for copyright infringement because that person's conduct infringes your copyright. The defendant can be the person who copies your content or the person who publishes it. However, the defendant cannot bring a claim against you. That's right – you literally cannot be sued for infringement. That's what the law means by "functional" rather than "criminal." If the defendant is infringing someone's copyright, then there would be a lawsuit, but if you published someone else's content, you are not liable for infringement. The defendant may be liable for Trademark Retardation but not copyright infringement. Lastly, unfair competition laws may apply to peer-to-peer file sharing, but not to content licensing. For more visit: www.albright-ip.co.uk/2017/09/how-to-patent- an-idea

4. WHEN YOU SHOULD GET A PATENT INSTEAD OF A TRADEMARK OR COPYRIGHT Simply put, a patent is the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention. You can't get a patent on just anything you create, however. The U.S.government requires certain things to be patented before you can use the patent in a commercial manner. (For example, the law doesn't make it easy to trademark words and phrases, for example.) Patents have a legal lifespan of 20 years, unless extended by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. If no extensions are granted, a patent will no longer be valid after 20 years. Patents don't displace every other form of intellectual property ownership, however. For example, if you make an idea worth studying, afterward you can copyright that idea. But you can't legitimately patent your idea if you didn't firstack it. The Scientific Background Let's examine the generic elements of a patent: its primary subject matter, filing date, issuance date, scope and impact, force of the patent, etc.