What is a Patent? | MightyRecruiter

Established companies and aspiring entrepreneurs often share the same vision: making a product or service better. The push to do so requires innovation that’s often unique to a single entity, whether it be an individual inventor or a company’s research and development department. Yet once a new product or invention has been created, the proverbial clock is ticking on the time one has to protect the product’s basic design, function, and output from being copied by competitors without requiring some sort of royalty or licensing agreement. That’s where patent protection comes in.

A patent is essentially a right of ownership granted by the federal government to those inventors and innovators of items meant for beneficial use. Without them, people may be discouraged from sharing ideas out of fear that another could profit from them without their express permission or, worse yet, steal them altogether. The writers of the U.S. Constitution foresaw this potential and thus empowered Congress with the right to grant patents, with the ultimate purpose being to “promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing…to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

Qualifying for a Patent

Today, patents are issued through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, who have developed a certain criteria that must be met in order for an invention or process innovation to be considered “patentable.” To meet these standards, one must show the product to be:

•Novel: A novel concept is one that differs from the norm in at least one way. In the case of an invention, a product’s output may be same as other alternatives on the market, yet if it’s mechanism for achieving it differs in one way, it may still be considered novel. However, if the product was used, sold, patented, or even featured in a publication one year prior to its creator filing for a patent, it is not deemed to be novel. The main purpose of the novel criteria is to encourage innovators to make their discoveries public in order for others to benefit from them faster.

•Nonobvious: Yet simply altering one aspect of a current product or process is not enough to warrant a patent. If it’s believed anyone with skill or expertise related to the task or idea a product addresses would have come to the same reasonable conclusion that such an innovation was needed, then the product may not be considered patentable. Rather, it must be a surprising improvement to those familiar with its concept.

•Useful: Ultimately, a product must also be considered useful in order to be considered for a patent. The goal of innovation is improvement, not simply satisfaction. Thus, inventors are encouraged to pursue ideas that will not simply be beneficial on a small-scale, but will offer advantages to mass groups of users or consumers, as well.

The Different Types of Patents

There are three kinds of patents that one may apply for. A utility patent is meant for actual new products, machines, or processes. Examples of this may include a new computer software program, or a new medical instrument. Design patents protect design concepts for a particular product. For example, while a couch may not be a new product, a redesigned couch meant to help people with back or neck problems may be patentable. Finally, a plant patent is given when a new plant is created. These can be tricky in that if new plant varieties are discovered to have happened through natural processes, they are not patentable. Rather, they must be created through asexual means in order for their composition to qualify for patent protection.

Given the competitive nature of business, it should not be surprising that those looking for a competitive advantage will look wherever they can to find it, even if it means copying the ideas of another. Thus, if one hopes to retain his or her right of ownership over a product or process, filing for and obtaining a patent is essential. While the process may be time-consuming, the financial rewards that having patent protection provides are worth it over the long-term.

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