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These rights are known as patent rights and are defined in the statute (35 U.S.C. § 154) as “. . . the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention throughout the United States.” The key phrase in the statute is “exclude others.” Thus, a patent is a grant of intellectual property rights by the United States which permits the patent owner to stop others from exploiting a patented invention for a limited term.  \nA patent document includes three essential components: a specification explaining the patented invention; drawings of the invention; and claims defining that which the patent right covers. The claims of a patent are of greatest significance for defining the extent of the intellectual property right granted by the U.S. government.  \nIt is also important to realize that a patent confers no positive right to make, use, or sell the invention. What is granted is strictly the negative legal right to exclude others. A new product may be patented, but governmental regulatory approval may still be required before the patented product can be marketed. Furthermore, the grant of a patent does not assure that practice of the patented invention will not infringe a patent owned by another. For example, a patent might be granted for an improvement to a previously patented device, but practice of the improvement invention might still infringe the claims of the earlier patent on the device. Similarly, when a patent expires, it is not always true that the patented product may be freely exploited by anyone. There could exist another unexpired patent having claims that would be infringed by making or selling the product covered by the expired patent.  \nThe geographic extent of enforcement of a U.S. patent is limited to the fifty states and U.S. territories and possessions. Thus, a U.S. patent provides no exclusive rights in Canada, Japan, Europe, or in any other foreign country, but the importation of products from abroad that infringe a U.S. patent may be stopped, if the infringer issued here. In some circumstances, importation of a product made by a patented process may also be blocked.  \nA patent is not self-enforcing. The government will not take any enforcement action on behalf of the patent owner. The government simply grants the right to exclude and leaves it to the patent owner to enforce their right (or choose not to) . The government’s role in case of a violation of rights is to provide the","cbCaisRvumjGs3Up","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisRvumjGs3Up","pdf",379054,"English","# Basic Information Regarding U.S. Patents\n## What Is A Patent?\n## What Can Be Covered By A Patent?\n## Who May Obtain A Patent?\n## How Does An Inventor Obtain A Patent?\n## When Should An Inventor Apply For A Patent?\n## Costs\n## Summary","[{\"question\":\"What legal rights does a U.S. patent provide?\",\"answer\":\"A U.S. patent grants patent rights defined in statute, primarily the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention in the United States for a limited term.\"},{\"question\":\"Does having a patent guarantee the invention can be made or sold without other risks?\",\"answer\":\"No. A patent does not provide a positive right to make, use, or sell, and other existing patents may still be infringed. Regulatory approval may also be required before marketing.\"},{\"question\":\"What kinds of inventions can be covered by a patent in the U.S.?\",\"answer\":\"Utility patents cover new and useful inventions or discoveries such as processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, certain uses of known categories, and improvements. They also address certain asexually reproduced plants, while design patents cover new, original, ornamental designs.\"}]","Basic Information Regarding U.S. Patents | PDF",1792824877]