“Learn How to Protect Your Intellectual Property Rights”
A patent is a grant from a governmental entity giving an inventor the rights to control the use of his invention. In the United States, the governmental authority to grant the right comes from the United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8, which states:
….The Congress shall have the power ….. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right of their respective writings and discoveries.
From that Constitutional directive, Congress enacted federal laws which define the various exclusive rights, and manner in which they can be protected. Congress also created federal agencies to control the issuance of these rights to the entities seeking them.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) controls the issuance of patent rights and rights in trademarks and services marks. The Copyright Office serves as a registry and depository of certain artistic and creative works.
In the industry, the term “intellectual property” is used to refer collectively to the types of works that are the product of the human intellect and creative artistry, most typically, patents, trademarks and copyrights.
While some states have enacted laws that further protect these or other aspects of intellectual property, the federal law, federal courts and the US Patent and Trademark Office are the sole authority on U.S. intellectual property rights, and supersede state authority on these matters.
Each foreign country has its own laws related to intellectual property rights. There are some coalitions and organizations that exist in which the patent laws, among other laws, are sought to be harmonized among nations, such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the European Patent Office. Foreign patent protection, both in obtaining the patent and in asserting rights in foreign jurisdictions) is very complicated and very expensive. Specific questions regarding these matters should be directed to your intellectual property lawyer.
The United States still adheres to the first-to-invent patent system as opposed to the first-to-file systems of most foreign countries. In most other countries, one need only be the first to file for an invention to be entitled to the patent monopoly, or patent rights. In the United States, inventorship, and thus patent validity, can be challenged by one claming to have invented before the patentee, i.e., first to invent.
