Patents

A patent is a special right granted to an inventor or discoverer by a government, through legislation, allowing them to trade a new invention commercially. Like any other property, a patent is a personal property right and can be licensed or sold by the person or organisation that holds it; the exclusive rights it grants allow the patent-holder to stop anyone else from making, using or selling the invention without permission. Because it can be genuinely difficult to keep an invention secret while still pursuing a patent, inventors are advised to seek guidance from a qualified patent attorney throughout the process. Formally, a patent consists of three parts: the grant, the specification, and the claims. The grant is a signed document filed at the patent office - it records the actual agreement granting patent rights to the inventor but is not itself published. The specification and claims, by contrast, are published together as a single public document: the specification is a narrative description of how the invention works and how it was carried out, while the claims specifically define the exact scope of the invention that others may not practise without permission. Patenting typically follows a general sequence: the discovery or invention is made; it undergoes a primary appraisal and formal assessment; the application is filed w …