What competition does a patent prevent?
Patents provide the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing the invention described in the claims. This is perhaps the most powerful monopoly legally obtainable
for products.

What rights does a patent provide?
The right to prohibit (see previous question) does not automatically include the right for the inventor to make, use, sell, import and/or offer the invention for sale. Anyone is free, however, to engage in such activities unless there is a law prohibiting it. The prohibitory laws of greatest concern include FDA regulations, firearm and explosives regulations, and patent laws whereby one's invention improves on another's patented invention.

What do the terms "patent pending" and "patent applied for" mean?
They are used by a manufacturer or seller of an article to inform the public that an application for patent on that article is on file in the Patent and Trademark Office. The law imposes a fine on those who use these terms falsely to deceive the public.

Why does the law recognize patents?
Patents were designed to reward persons for particular benefits provided to the government and the people with a monoply. Originally, the "benefits" was losely defined and the monopoly was not well connected to the benefit provided. In time the "benefit" to be offered became more narrowly defined to require a teaching about something unknown. The monopoly offered as a reward also became more closely related to the benefit. The inventor received a limited monoply on the subject matter of the teaching (i.e., the invention as described in the claims). The impact of these events still permiate patent law today.

How was the duration of a patent determined?
Utility patents, prior to Gatt, lasted 17 years from date of issuance. The master-apprentice relationship was a seven year relationship. Custom had it that when an apprentice learned something from his master that was not otherwise known in the trade (i.e., an invention) the apprentice would not practice it for two apprentice periods following the end of his apprenticeship. The master could have developed the invention at the start or at the end of the apprenticeship, making the average time in the middle. Adding half the existing apprenticeship period with the two subsequent apprenticeship periods (3-1/2 + 7 + 7) gave 17-1/2years of a monopoly for the inventor. For convenience sake, the half year was dropped, giving a 17 year monopoly. Design and plant patents lasted 14 years from the date of issuance (7+7). Gatt changed the durations which are now based upon a compromise of time periods from the contracting governments.

What are the fundamental requirements of a patentable invention?
An invention is something that is new, useful and non-obvious. Other technical requirements must be met for the patent to issue, relating to the disclosure and form of the claims. Meeting the technical requirements is generally within the ability of a skilled patent practitioner.

What is the requirement of "new" or "novel"?
New and novel have the same meaning. Specifically, one's invention is new or novel if the invention is not identical to a single invention found in the prior art. Any public disclosures or offers for sale of your invention more than one year prior to your filing for a patent are prior art. This is called the on-sale bar and is perhaps the single most common reason why an invention may not be new or novel.

What is the requirement of "useful"?
An invention that is useful is one that functions. This requirement is to avoid issuance of patents on perpetual motion machines. Some inventions are so advancing of science that many people do not currently have the capacity to understand how the invention functions. Scientific testing can be used to prove that this requirement has been met.

What is the requirement of "non-obvious"?
Non-obviousness is anything that is outside the ability of one having ordinary skill in the art. This is a subjective test that is difficult to explain and difficult to apply. In essence, one looks to two or more prior existing inventions to find the part of the invention in question. Typically, this can be found in all inventions. To combine the parts of different inventions there must also be a teaching to make the combination. Typically, this teaching is not present in patentable inventions.

Why should one file before the first public disclosure or offer for sale?
Filing a patent application before the first public disclosure or offer for sale permits later filing in foreign countries. It also allows one to mark their product patent pending, which can provide a practical protection when introducing a new product into the market. Another advantage is that people often forget to file a patent application in a timely manner if they do not file the application before bringing the product into the market.

When must a patent application be filed before the first public disclosure or offer for sale?
Almost everywhere in the world, except the United States, a patent application must have a priority date before the first public disclosure. Filing a patent application in any country ascribing to the Patent Cooperation Treaty gives the priority date. One invention may have multiple priority dates.

Can one use a priority date from one country in a second country?
Yes. There are two common modes of claiming a priority date. First, a priority date can be claimed in the filing papers if the application is filed in the second country within one year of the priority date. Second, a PCT application can be filed which extends the time to file in other countries up to 30 months from the priority date and in some countries even longer.

What benefit is there to waiting to file a patent application?
The principal benefit in waiting is to gain further understanding of the commercial viability of the invention before investing in patent protection. Waiting does risk forgetting to file and forever losing the right to obtain patent protection.