US Patent Law: Giving The Inventors Their Rightful Due

Every inventor wants he should have the sole right over his invention. The US patent law provides this right to the inventors, exclusively, for sometime. The US patent law has the most expansive patent subject matter. It grants patents to living organism, new alphabets, business methods, computer software, and many others.

The US Patent Law is conceptualized on the basis of utilitarian reasoning. This concept promotes the development in science and some other useful arts, in the interest of the general public. Under this concept, the inventor has to provide his/her invention to the general public. In return s/he gets to enjoy exclusive rights on the invention for a limited period.

The process of granting exclusive rights to the inventors, for a limited period, has its advantages. It provides the incentive to invent, design, and disclose. These things then play an important role in the science and technology's progress.

The US patent law excludes others from making, using, and/or selling the invention. It also stops others from exporting the invention to any other part of the world. Apart from this, the law also stops the import of any product patented under a patented process outside the U.S.

The law also has defined infringement. According to it, if any one thinks about an invention, or a piece of art, then s/he is not guilty of infringement. Also, if anyone is researching for "purely philosophical" inquiry, he is not guilty of any infringement. But, someone conducting a research for commercial purposes is guilty for infringement.

The only exception is when the research is being conducted to obtain an approval from the Food and Drug Administration. For instance, a research could be conducted to get permission to introduce a patented drug's generic version.

An invention can only be patented if it fulfills some conditions. The invention has to adhere to the guidelines set for patentable subject matter. This is defined under the Section 101 (35 USC Sec. 101). According to section 101, a novel and useful invention or discovery that may be a process or product is patentable.

There are some conditions in which an invention cannot be patented. The first condition is whether the invention is abandoned to the public. The second condition is whether the invention is patented in a foreign country twelve months before the present patent application's filing date.

The US patent law has patented many inventions and discoveries in the past, and it continues to do so in the present as well. It truly has given the inventors their due.