So you want to know what a patent is? Maybe you have heard of the term before but are not really sure what it means. Well, after reading this article, you should have a pretty good idea of what a patent is.
A patent is an exclusive right given by the government to a patent owner to make or use a product or a process (process of using or making a product) for a given period of time. It’s like a mini monopoly.
Well, isn’t a monopoly bad you ask? Not in this case. By giving the patent owner a small monopoly the government gets something in return. The government get disclosure of what the patent is about. For example, what the product is, how to make it and/or how to use it. This is beneficial to the government because the government publishes this information as was discussed on https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/inventhelp article.
Other inventors or companies can then use the published information to further their understanding and come up with their own ideas or products. In essence, published patents are used as building blocks for further research and understanding. Patents have a two fold advantage.
First of all, the patent owner can use their small monopoly to make money and grow a business which helps the economy.
Second, the information disclosed in the patent application helps others learn and make improvements on the product, which they can then also patent and make money on.
Over time this process continues and helps new ideas develop and be a seed for other ideas. All of this helps the patent owners make money, and in turn, helps the economy further. You can read more patenting an invention on https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/INPEX as well.
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