Patent
What does "Patent" mean in law?
A patent is a government-granted exclusive right to make, use, sell, offer to sell, or import an invention for a limited period, typically 20 years from the filing date for utility patents. Under 35 U.S.C. sections 101-103, an invention must satisfy four requirements: patentable subject matter, novelty, non-obviousness, and utility. The Supreme Court in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International (2014) significantly narrowed patentable subject matter by holding that abstract ideas implemented on a generic computer are not patent-eligible, establishing a two-step framework for determining whether a claim is directed to a patent-ineligible concept.
Definition
A patent is a government-granted exclusive right to make, use, sell, offer to sell, or import an invention for a limited period, typically 20 years from the filing date for utility patents. Under 35 U.S.C. sections 101-103, an invention must satisfy four requirements: patentable subject matter, novelty, non-obviousness, and utility. The Supreme Court in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International (2014) significantly narrowed patentable subject matter by holding that abstract ideas implemented on a generic computer are not patent-eligible, establishing a two-step framework for determining whether a claim is directed to a patent-ineligible concept.
Example
A pharmaceutical company obtains a patent on a new chemical compound for treating diabetes, giving it the exclusive right to manufacture and sell the drug for 20 years from the filing date.