A Patent is a government grant that allows the inventor to make, use and sell for a certain amount of time. It gives the inventor exclusive right to an invention or discovery. To be eligible for a patent, an invention must be new, useful or improvement of an existing patent. All patents other than design patents give the inventor control over an invention for 17 years. He must pay and protect his own invention which can be quite costly.

Design patents are issued for 3 1/2, 7 or 14 years at the inventors option. A patent cannot be renewed except by a special act of Congress. It takes an average of two years for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to issue a patent. Manufactures often put a “Patent Applied For” marking on the product as soon as a patent is applied for, to get the newly invented product on the market as soon as possible. The patented article may be marked with either a patent number or just be marked “Patented”.

If an invention is copied without the owners permission, it is called infringement and the owner may sue for damages. Trademarks and Patents must be issued for each country where you need to be protected.