Patents

What is a patent?

A patent is a invention granted by a government to the inventor. It gifts the inventor a limited time period which prevents others from making, using or selling the invention without the permission of the inventor. When a patent is granted, the invention becomes the property of the inventor, which - like any other form of property or business asset - can be bought, sold, rented or hired. Patents are territorial rights; UK Patent will only give the holder rights within the United Kingdom and rights to stop others from importing the patented products into the United Kingdom. If the inventor wishes to prevent anyone in the world from making, using or selling the invention then the inventor must get a international patent (These are more expensive and harder to obtain)

How do you obtain a patent?

To meet the requirements of a patent the invention must not be that off another inventors (unless sold the rights). It must also not use any patented invention ideas. The invention must also be new and not have been made public at any time.  Patents must also contain a inventive step; a inventive step is where the product must be able to be produced or be able to be used to produce products. 

What do patents cover?

Patents generally are used to cover products or processes that are labeled to have new functional or technical aspects. Therefore, patents usually contain how things work, what they do, how they do it and how they are made (in terms of material or process used). Nowadays the  majority of patents submitted are for improvements to known technology.