It is perfectly legal in the United States to choose to let your invention go unused for the entire period of the patent. If someone uses your invention without your permission, you are entitled to stop their use of the invention by seeking a legal injunction in Federal court.
The creation of intellectual property is an exciting time, and before going to market, you need to protect your idea in the best way possible. This brings us to the four types of intellectual property protection — copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets.
A patent is an intellectual property (IP) right for a technical invention. It allows you to prevent others from using your invention for commercial purposes for up to 20 years. You decide who is allowed to produce, sell or import your invention in those countries in which you own a valid patent.
Patents protect technical inventions, for example a product, a process or an apparatus, in all fields of technology. For an invention to qualify for patent protection, it must be novel, involve an inventive step and be industrially applicable.
There are three types of patents: design, utility, and plant. Design patents protect the ornamental design of an object, while utility patents protect the functional aspects of an invention. Plant patents protect reproduced plants. Another way to protect your intellectual property is to keep it confidential.
A patent protects ideas, methods, processes, and inventions that are novel, useful and non-obvious.
Patents may be granted for inventions in any field of technology, from an everyday kitchen utensil to a nanotechnology chip. An invention can be a product – such as a chemical compound, or a process, for example – a process for producing a specific chemical compound.
You can use patents to protect your technical inventions (innovative products or processes) against unwanted imitation. Patent proprietors gain a territorial monopoly right of use for a limited period.
4.6. The correct answer is (C), (D), (A), (B) Key Points Patent: A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
The Poor Man's Patent Is Obsolete Being the first to invent will no longer save you is someone else filed first. So even if you did write out the idea for your invention and mailed it to yourself, that date would not matter.