What is a patent?
A patent is an exclusive right awarded for an invention, which is a product or a technique that offers a new technical solution to a problem or provides a new way of doing something in general. Technical information concerning the innovation must be given to the public in a patent application in order to get a patent.
What kind of protection does a patent offer?
In theory, the patent owner has the only right to block or prohibit others from commercialising the protected idea. In other words, patent protection prevents others from commercialising, using, distributing, importing, or selling the innovation without the permission of the patent owner.
Types of Patents
There are three types of patents available in the United States: utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. Each has its own specifications and durations.
Utility Patents
When a person invents anything that may be used in a practical way, they might get legal protection via utility patents or patents for innovation. More over 90 percent of all U.S. patents are utility patents, making them the most frequent form of patent. When fees are paid, a utility patent lasts for 20 years from the date of filing.
Design Patents
Patents on novel, unique, and aesthetically pleasing designs for manufactured goods are known as "design patents." Protecting a product's aesthetics is the goal of a design patent. For them, a unique and valuable innovation is required for the design to belong to. After May 13, 2015, design patents are valid for 15 years. Patents issued prior to May 13, 2015 have a 14-year term starting on the date of filing. Design patents are exempt from paying annual maintenance costs.
Plant Patents
Anyone who produces, discovers, or invents a new type of plant that can be reproduced is eligible for a plant patent. In addition, there are no expenses associated with maintaining these patents for the next 20 years.
Companies and people benefit from patent protection because it removes the threat of infringement from the process of creating new goods and services. In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, research and development costs may run into the billions of dollars. In the absence of patent protection, firms that did not do research or engage in R&D may produce and sell similar pharmaceuticals and medicines as the original products of other companies.
To put it another way, patents safeguard the intellectual property of businesses in order to increase their profits. However, firms might use patents as a way to boast about how inventive they are.
Types of Patents in India
The Patents Act, 1970 governs patents in India. As a result of a patent, only the inventor may make and sell his creation without the permission of anybody else. To foster innovation, patents serve two functions. First and foremost, they aid the innovators' financial well-being. For one thing, the invention's details are made public so that the public may be certain that no one else can file a comparable patent application in the future. A patent may only be granted when three requirements are met: innovation, non-obviousness, and usefulness.
Novelty
The patent office publishes the invention's details roughly 18 months after the application's earliest priority date. A comparable innovation will not be considered again in the future as a result of this action. A patent may only be granted to a new invention.
Non-obviousness
As a general rule, non-obviousness means that the innovation should not appear in a way that is readily apparent to the general public.
Utility
Regardless of how original or non-obvious an invention may be, a patent should not be awarded if it does not have a practical use. When referring to patents, one usually refers to utility patents, even if there are other sorts of patents available. It is possible to get a design patent even if the innovation is only ornamental.
