Q&A: Intellectual Property & the Law

[g6civcx]

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable.

Let's look at what a patent is. Conceptually, a patent is a contract between you and the government. You tell the government what your invention is and that gets published. The government in return grants you exclusive rights for a period of time to profit from your invention.

The whole idea is to get people to tell the public their ideas. Technology would be nowhere if you couldn't learn from what other people did before. We would be reinventing the wheel.

Historically, the patent system was one of the few things that made it into the Constitution without debate. Everyone recognized the importance of getting ideas out of people's head and onto paper so future generations can further develop the technology.

Keep in mind that your disclosure must be complete. If you try to hide something, it's illegal. Personally, I don't understand why some people are so secretive about their patent. It's public disclosure. If you want to keep your idea a secret, don't file for a patent. But that's my personal opinion and I'll keep that out of here.


There is also a huge misconception I've seen on this board and everywhere else as well. There is no international patent. Each country has their own system. It's confusing, but that's how it is. So your Japanese patents have no value in the US, and vice versa.

The best you can do is file in every country you want protection in. There is a simplified process to bring your application to other countries, but you still have to file in each country separately.


Traditionally, all patents must be novel, nonobvious, and statutory. I don't like the terminology the wiki uses because it's confusing.

"novel" means it's never been done before.

"nonobvious" means it's not an obvious variation of something that already exists. There is a legal test to determine obviousness, but I won't get into that right now.

"statutory" means it must comply with every single law, rule, and guideline I posted above.


Traditionally, patents cover processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter. Each category has their own definition, and sometimes it's difficult to classify an invention.

Recently, there was a case called State Street Bank & Trust Company v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. This case created a judicial exception for a new class of invention called "business methods". This is a relatively new area of patent law and it's very controversial.

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_S...ial_Group,_Inc.


That's pretty much what a patent is. If your invention is new, not obvious, and statutory, you're eligible for patent protection. The patent means no one can use or sell your invention without your consent.


The difference between a patent and a trademark and a copyright is that a patent protects an invention, what the invention is, what the invention does, and what the invention looks like.

A trademark protects a company's logo and design so other people can't sell you fake stuff. A trademark doesn't identify a product. It just identifies the manufacturer. Wiki is not correct on some definitions, but I won't get into that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark

Copyrights are stuff like art, music, writing, poetry, etc. Stuff that you can get in the library: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

A trade secret is stuff that you want to keep secret. You don't get any protection if someone duplicates your idea though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_secret