7 things you need to know about patents in the manufacturing industry

If you are active in the manufacturing industry, chances are that you are dealing with patents, or at least have heard of patents. This can be patents on inventions of your own company, but also patents from suppliers, customers or competitors. Below you can read what you need to know for sure about patents.

1. Patents are the same as copyrights

according to the InventHelp A patent is a copyright. According to the same website, a patent is a property right granted to someone who has made an invention. In short, a patent and copyrights are the same. The owner of a patent has the legal right to prohibit others from applying the patented invention. In a sense, a patent is, therefore, a license from the government to keep an invention exclusive. However, in exchange for the patent, the inventor must make his invention known, even if no patent is ultimately granted. Read More: How InventHelp make inventors life easier than ever before.

2. Anyone can apply for a patent

It is not mandatory to have US nationality or be a resident of US in order to apply for a patent. It is true that the right to the patent in principle belongs to the inventor. When applying for a patent, however, the government does not check whether the applicant is also the so-called entitled party. In addition, a number of exceptions have been included in the law for an invention in employment. An invention made by an employee in an area for which the employee has been appointed usually belongs to the employer.

3. Not everything is patentable

It is not always clear what can be patented. According to a senior American judge, "Anything under the sun that is made by man" can be patented. The recent fuss about the patenting of peppers and tomatoes may lead to a different assumption. The patent law does not specify where you can get a patent, but where you cannot get a patent. For the US and Europe, you should think of inventions that are contrary to public order. A patent on a land mine or human cloning will also not be granted.

4. Patents apply to one country

In the US you can apply for a patent at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). However, the Patent Office can only grant a patent for the same. If you also want a patent in another country, you must in principle apply for this separately for each country; a worldwide patent does not exist. To make it easier for inventors to obtain a patent in several countries, there are centralized procedures. For European countries, for example, a patent application can be filed with the European Patent Office.

5. Getting a patent can take a while

In principle, a patent is granted in the US 22 months after the application. This is relatively fast compared to other countries and can be even faster on request. This is because the application is assessed in terms of content. Such an assessment with an exchange of arguments can easily take a few years. The good news is that the invention is protected from the date the patent was applied for if the patent was granted.

6. A patent is valid for a maximum of 20 years

In general, a patent is valid for a maximum of 20 years. However, most patents do not get that old. To keep a patent alive, an amount must be paid to the government every year. This amount increases as the patent grow older and are currently $400 for a US patent in the fourth year. In particular, if the invention is no longer profitable, many patent owners decide these amounts can no longer be paid, which means that the patent expires.

7. The invention must be surreptitious and new

In order to obtain a legally valid patent, the invention must satisfy various requirements. An important requirement is that the invention is new. This means that the invention may not be known anywhere in the world. That only a patent is requested for the US does not matter. For the inventor, this means that he himself may not make his invention public until the patent is applied for. If, before the patent is applied for, the invention must nevertheless be shown to, for example, investors or customers, this must take place under confidentiality. Do you want to know more about patents then ask your question at the bottom of this blog? Read More: Protect your invention idea Explore the ways to market your product