United States patent law

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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 1 Substantive law 2 Procedure 2.1 Pre-grant publication (PG Pub) 3 Enforcement 3.1 International Trade Commission (ITC) 4 See also 4.1 Concepts 4.2 Legislation 4.3 Other 5 References 6 External links

[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

This section requires expansion.

[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

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of US Patent Law

• History of United States patent law
• List of United States inventions
• List of United States patent law cases

[edit] Concepts

All elements test Article of manufacture‎ (type of claim) Assignor estoppel Composition of matter‎ (type of claim) Continuing patent application Design patent Doctrine of inherency Doctrine of repair and reconstruction Duty of candor Duty of disclosure Exhausted combination doctrine First-sale doctrine Flash of genius Inequitable conduct Information disclosure statement (IDS) Interference proceeding Non-obviousness Machine (patent)‎ (type of claim) Markman hearing Method (patent)‎ (type of claim)

Non-provisional patent application Novelty On-sale bar Patent infringement under United States law Person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) Petition to make special Prosecution disclaimer Prosecution history estoppel Provisional application Reduction to practice Reexamination Reissue application Small entity status Software patents under United States patent law Statutory Invention Registration Submarine patent Term of patent in the United States Transitional phrase United States Defensive Publication Utility X-Patent

[edit] Legislation

• 28 USC 1498. This statute allows the US government to override patent protection (or contract another entity to do so) for public use purposes. The patent owner can sue for limited compensation. [1]
• American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA)
• Bayh-Dole Act
• Invention Secrecy Act (1951)
• Patent Act of 1790, First Patent Act - April 7, 1790
• Patent Reform Act of 2005
• Patent Reform Act of 2007
• Patent Reform Act of 2009
• Plant Patent Act (1930)
• Title 35 of the United States Code

[edit] Other

• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
• Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI)
• Confederate Patent Office
• European patent law
• Japanese patent law
• List of top United States patent recipients
• Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP)
• United States copyright law
• United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC)
• United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA)
• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• United States Patents Quarterly (USPQ)
• United States trademark law

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) web site:
  • Consolidated laws (pdf, 1MB)
  • Glossary of patent terms
  • Search US patents
• US code, Title 35

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