A patent is a right granted by a country’s government to an inventor for a limited time to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale or selling the invention in, or importing the invention into, that country. In order to be enforceable in any country, the patent must be registered by that country’s government after the inventor files an application for patent protection. In general, patents are granted for new and nonobvious ideas that have utility or an ornamental design.
Glossary