PATENTS

As we've said elsewhere in this section, a patent is a grant by the government of exclusive use of something by a citizen in return for some promise of action toward the government by the citizen. Patents, these days, almost always relate to inventions of some kind, and the government grants to the inventor, and promises to protect, the exclusive right to make, use, and sell the invention for a set period of time -- or, more correctly, the right to exclude others from doing so. In return, the inventor discloses the invention to the public and "teaches" the public how to make and use it.

In the United States, the government (federal government) grants three types of patents. The one usually meant by the term "patent," to which the definitions related to invention, above, apply absolutely, is the utility patent. In addition, the U.S. government grants a design patent on the design and configuration of manufactured items, and a plant patent on invented varieties of plants. From time to time, a patent may be reexamined and reissued. Under certain circumstances, an inventor may obtain a Statutory Invention Registration (SIR), which is not a patent at all, but simply a formal discloure. These things and what they may or may not protect are discussed in the following frames.

As a point of interest, if you have enquired about patents, you may have heard the term "provisional patent" touted as an inexpensive alternative approach to the patent process. There is no such thing as a provisional patent. There is a provisional application for patent protection that is a valuable tool in the patent process under certain circumstances, and which can help to spread costs out over a greater period of time. We discuss provisional patent applications in another page of this section.