Patent Law Explained

What a patent is

A patent is a right granted by a state, or by an intergovernmental organisation, to the owner of an invention. It is granted for a limited period of time in exchange for a detailed public disclosure of how the invention works.

Inventions can be electrical, mechanical or chemical in nature. An invention can be a product or a process, and is typically a solution to a specific technical problem.

The commercial trade-off

A patent gives its owner the right to stop others from making, using or selling the invention during its term. The price of that right is disclosure: once the patent is published, competitors can study the invention and build on it after the term ends.

That is why some inventions are better protected as trade secrets. Whether a patent serves a business depends on how easily the invention could be reverse-engineered, how long it will stay commercially relevant, and how the business intends to use it.

This page is general information about the law and is not legal advice.