Patent

A legal right granting a monopoly over an invention within a particular territory for a limited period of time - typically 20 years from the date of filing.  It gives its owner the right to prevent others from making, using, importing, or selling the patented invention without their permission.  A patent can be sold, licenced or mortgaged in the same way as any other property. 

To obtain a patent, it is necessary to file a patent application with a patent office responsible for granting patents in the territory in which protection for the invention is desired.  The patent office will assess the patent application and grant a patent provided that the requirements for doing so are met.  These requirements include the requirements of novelty and inventive step.  Where protection in multiple territories is desired, it will be necessary to obtain a separate patent for each of those territories. 

The patent application that is filed includes a patent specification that includes claims setting out the scope of protection that is sought and a description that provides sufficient detail about the invention to allow others to understand and reproduce it.  This patent specification will usually be published by the patent offices.  This means that others will be able to understand and use the invention on expiry of the granted patent (or in the event that the patent application is refused without a patent being granted).