| What is a patent?
A patent grants rights to an inventor for a period of years in exchange
for teaching the public how to practice the patented invention. The
patent is granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patent rights
are assignable and many corporations own them. The granted patent rights
allow the patent owner to “exclude others from making, using, offering
for sale, selling or importing” the patented invention into the United
States.
Care must be taken in recognizing the rights granted in a patent. The
key phrase in the granted rights is "the right to exclude." The patent
does not grant the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import
the invention but only grants the exclusive right of preventing others
from capitalizing on the invention. Thus, the right granted does not
necessarily allow the patent owner to exploit the invention if the
invention is an improvement of an invention currently protected by
another patent.
Since the patent does not grant the right to make, use, offer for sale,
sell, or import the invention, the patent owner's rights to practice the
invention is dependent upon the rights of others and whatever general
laws might be applicable. A patentee (merely because he/she has received
a patent for an invention) is not authorized to make, use, offer for
sale, sell, or import the invention if doing so would violate any law.
For example, an inventor of a new automobile who has obtained a patent
thereon is not entitled to use the patented automobile in violation of
the laws of a state. Or, the patent owner of an improved earth-moving
machine would not be able to operate the machine on state highways if
the machine would exceed state highway weight limits.
The term of the utility patent is 20 years from filing date; the term of
a design patent is 14 years from the date of issue. Maintenance fees for
utility patents are due at 3 ½, 7 ½ and 11 ½ years after the original
grant date. Design and plant patents do no have maintenance fees. The
maintenance fee must be paid at the stipulated times to maintain the
patent in force. After the patent expires, anyone may make, use, offer
for sale, sell, or import the invention without permission of the patent
owner.
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