Patent

A patent is a government-granted intellectual property right giving the inventor exclusive rights to make, use, sell, and license an invention for a limited period. The term is typically 20 years from filing for utility patents, in exchange for publicly disclosing how the invention works in sufficient detail that someone skilled in the field could reproduce it. Patents are issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at the federal level and have no state-level equivalent.

The three patent types:

• Utility patents cover new and useful processes, machines, manufactures, or compositions of matter; the most-common patent type covering everything from algorithms (in limited cases) to mechanical devices to chemical formulations. Te...