Saturday, November 14, 2009

Different Types Of Patents

By Elvie Tan

A patent is a lawful recognition given by a country's government to an inventor to check other individuals from making unlawful use of his invention and its core idea for a certain span of time as put down by the law. It enables the inventor to carry out legal proceedings against any person who is found infringing his rights in that respect.

Patents can be categorized under three main heads. These are design, utility and plant patents.

Design patents are given in order to protect the way a product looks and its structure. Therefore, it provides safety to configuration, form as well as decorative adornments. This patent is commonly used by companies that are engaged in enhancing the current products instead of inventing new products entirely.

A utility patent is however meant to provide protection to any radically new process, composition or the invented product itself, as long as it is useful in some way. This patent helps in safeguarding the nature or functioning of a product. Utility patent is more common than other types of patents and it can either be taken separately or together with a design patent.

The third kind of patent is known as a plant patent and it is given for discovery of a unique variety of a plant, which can be made by asexual production. It gives the inventor a safeguard against unscrupulous persons, who might attempt to produce or sell a part or whole of the plant.

However, there is another kind of patent known as a provisional patent, which essentially means a patent that is temporarily given to you if you for some reasons are unable to apply for a patent in the normal way. In situations like these, the inventor is permitted to register for a fresh patent later, though the new patent must not be radically different from the provisional patent. This patent is used in cases when you are about to complete the development of your invention.

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