United States patent law

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United States patent law was established "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;"[1] as provided in the United States Constitution. Congress implemented these protections as a first-to-invent patent legal framework. By contrast, all other national patent laws are first-to-file systems. The provisions of the law are laid out in Title 35 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) and give authority for the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[2] This system is permitted by Article One, Section 8(8) of the U.S. Constitution.

In the U.S., a patent is a right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, exporting components to be assembled into an infringing device outside the U.S., importing the product of a patented process practiced outside the U.S., inducing others to infringe, offering a product specially adapted for practice of the patent, and a few other very carefully defined categories. Thus, merely thinking about an invention, or drawing a diagram, is not an infringement. Research for "purely philosophical" inquiry is not an infringement, but research directed to commercial purposes is - unless the research is directed toward obtaining approval of the Food and Drug Administration for introduction of a generic version of a patented drug.

Under current US law, the term of patent is 20 years from the earliest claimed filing date, plus patent term extension.

Contents

[edit] Substantive law

Under Title 35 of the United States Code, the patentability of inventions is defined under Sections 100-105. Most notably, section 101 [3] sets out subject matter that can be patented; section 102 [4] defines novelty and loss of right to patent; section 103 [5] lists what constitutes non-obvious subject matter.

[edit] Procedure

[edit] Pre-grant publication (PG Pub)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes patent applications 18 months after they are filed. This time limit can be extended under certain circumstances for an additional fee.[6] The applications are published before a patent has been granted on them.

[edit] Enforcement

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[edit] International Trade Commission (ITC)

In the United States, a patent holder may wish to pursue a cause of action in the ITC instead of, or in addition to the court system.[citation needed] In contrast to courts who have a wide range of remedies at their disposal, the ITC can only do one thing when it comes to patent infringement: grant or deny injunctive relief by ordering to keep infringing products from being imported into the United States.[citation needed] In some cases, this may provide a quicker resolution to a patent owner's problems.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

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[edit] Concepts

[edit] Legislation

[edit] Other

[edit] References

  1. ^
  2. ^ http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode35/usc_sup_01_35.html
  3. ^ 35 USC 101
  4. ^ 35 USC 102
  5. ^ 35 USC 103
  6. ^ MPEP 1120: Eighteen-Month Publication of Patent Applications [R-5]

[edit] External links

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Patent law in North America
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1 Territories also in or commonly considered to be part of South America.
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