History of the Patent
“Before then [the Constitution], any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this; secured to the inventor, for a limited time, the exclusive use of his invention; and thereby added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius, in the discovery and production of new and useful things.” – Abraham Lincoln
The United States Constitution grants Congress the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts. It does this by granting exclusive rights to the creators of products for a limited amount of time, usually 20 years, after the patent is granted.
What is a Patent?
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted to a person by the government for a fixed period of time. The patent itself is an idea and a description of the invention including art and drawings. A patent excludes others from making, selling, using or importing the product for a certain time period. The person who chooses to obtain a patent does not have to be the creator of the idea or invention.
Subjects considered for patents are most commonly categorized as inventions, artistic expressions, secrets or semiconductor designs.
To qualify for a patent, an idea or invention must be new, non-obvious, and useful (beneficial and practical) to the public.
What is Intellectual Property?
Matters of patents are referred to as intellectual property in the sense that the idea or invention is the product of the mind, and once established, entitlements to that product mirror and are equivalent to the same type of treatment as tangible property. The most common forms of intellectual property include patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
How is a Patent Created?
There are different kinds of patents, such as a design or utility patent, which may require specific explanations within the patent. Utility patents are the most common type of patent. They generally include technical professes, business methods and software. Patent claims are typically in long-sentence form that consists of elements, or limitations, of the claim.
An application for a patent must be filed and undergo a process called patent prosecution to determine patentability.
Why Are Patents Important?
The incentives for patents are based on economic analysis. Patents ensure that all the time and money spent by a person to develop an innovative product for the common good of man and progression of science will be able to recover his or her investment and energy.
What is Patent Infringement?
Patent infringement is not a criminal offense but rather is subject to civil litigation.
To be guilty of infringement, a person must have violated through practice every element of a claim in the patent. A suit cannot be upheld if the potential infringer has not violated at least one element of a claim.
The U.S., unlike other countries, grants patents to the “first to invent” rather than the “first to file” for a patent. An inventor of an idea or product has a 1-year grace period after a publication of the idea to file for a patent, therefore not allowing public sale to interfere and take place immediately.
Over the past two decades, the patent has become an imperative tool in protecting research and developing ideas. In 1982 a Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was created by Congress to encourage consistency and understanding of patent law interpretation. In nearly 2/3 of the cases it hears, the court supports the patents. Cases that have been upheld have cost infringers over $1 billion.
If willful infringement is determined, damages paid to the patent can be increased up to three times the actual amount of damages.
Recent News in Patent Infringement Cases
In 1985, Kodak was accused of infringing on Polaroid's instant photography patents. The accusation was upheld in the Federal Circuit and in 1990 Kodak was held liable for $925 million payable to Polaroid.
On May 7, 2003 a jury found eBay guilty of willfully infringing on MercExchange patents regarding a method of using software search agents to identify products in electronic markets, as well as methods of posting items for sale in the electronic market. The result was instruction for eBay to pay $35 million in damages to MercExchange.
On June 8, 2005 well-know mobile telephone service Nokia was sued for infringing on a technology patent that allows users to answer calls without touching the phone. The first court hearing is expected to be held within the next year, but a final outcome could take years.