Return To Section Contents
<<<Previous Page | Next Page>>>
Page1 |Page2 |Page3 |Page4 |Page5 |Page6 |Page7 |Page8 |Page9 |Page10 |Page11 |Page12 |Page13 |Page14 |Page15 |Page16 |Page17 |Page18 |Page19 |Page20 |Page21 |Page22 |Page23 |
accomplishing the result.
Reduction to practice refers to the actual construction of the
invention in physical form; in the case of a machine it
includes the actual building of the machine, in the case of an
article or composition it includes the actual making of the
article or composition, in the case of a process it includes
the actual carrying out of the steps of the process; and actual
operation, demonstration, or testing for the intended use is
also usually necessary. The filing of a regular application for
patent completely disclosing the invention is treated as
equivalent to reduction to practice. The inventor who proves to
be the first to conceive the invention and the first to reduce
it to practice will be held to be the prior inventor, but more
complicated situations cannot be stated this simply.
ALLOWANCE AND ISSUE OF PATENT
If, on examination of the application, or at a later stage
during the reconsideration of the application, the patent
application is found to be allowable, a notice of allowance
will be sent to the applicant, or to applicant's attorney or
agent, and a fee for issuing the patent is due within three
months from the date of the notice.
The issue fee is due within three months after a written
notice of allowance is mailed to the applicant. If timely
payment is not made the application will be regarded as
abandoned. See current fee schedule.
A provision is made in the statute whereby the
Commissioner may accept the fee late, on a showing of
unavoidable delay. When the issue fee is paid, the patent
issues as soon as possible after the date of payment, dependent
upon the volume of printing on hand. The patent grant then is
delivered or mailed on the day of its grant, or as soon
thereafter as possible, to the inventor's attorney or agent if
there is one of record, otherwise directly to the inventor. On
the date of the grant, the patent file becomes open to the
public. Printed copies of the specification and drawing are
available on the same date.
In case the publication of an invention by the granting of
a patent would be detrimental to the national defense, the
patent law gives the Commissioner the power to withhold the
grant of the patent and to order the invention kept secret for
such period of time as the national interest requires.
NATURE OF PATENT AND PATENT RIGHTS
The patent is issued in the name of the United States
under the seal of the Patent and Trademark Office, and is
either signed by the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks or
has his name written thereon and attested by an Office
official. The patent contains a grant to the patentee and a
printed copy of the specification and drawing is annexed to the
patent and forms a part of it. The grant confers "the right to
exclude others from making, using or selling the invention
throughout the United States" and its territories and
possessions for the term of 17 years subject to the payment of
maintenance fees as provided by law.
The exact nature of the right conferred must be carefully
distinguished, and the key is in the words "right to exclude"
in the phrase just quoted. The patent does not grant the right
to make, use, or sell the invention but only grants the
exclusive nature of the right. Any person is ordinarily free to
make, use, or sell anything he pleases, and a grant from the
Government is not necessary. The patent only grants the right
to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention.
Since the patent does not grant the right to make, use, or sell
the invention, the patentee's own right to do so is dependent
upon the rights of others and whatever general laws might be
applicable. A patentee, merely because he or she has received a
patent for an invention, is not thereby authorized to make, use
or sell the invention if doing so would violate any law. An
inventor of a new automobile who has obtained a patent thereon
would not be entitled to use the patented automobile in
violation of the laws of a State requiring a license, nor may a
patentee sell an article the sale of which may be forbidden by
a law, merely because a patent has been obtained. Neither may a
patentee make, use or sell his/her own invention if doing so
would infringe the prior rights of others. A patentee may not
violate the Federal antitrust laws, such as by resale price
agreements or entering into combination in restraints of trade,
or the pure food and drug laws, by virtue of having a patent.
Ordinarily there is nothing which prohibits a patentee from
making, using, or selling his/her own invention, unless he/she
thereby infringes another's patent which is still in force.
Since the essence of the right granted by a patent is the
right to exclude others from commercial exploitation of the
invention, the patentee is the only one who may make, use, or
sell the invention. Others may not do so wi
<<<Previous Page | Next Page>>>
Page1 |Page2 |Page3 |Page4 |Page5 |Page6 |Page7 |Page8 |Page9 |Page10 |Page11 |Page12 |Page13 |Page14 |Page15 |Page16 |Page17 |Page18 |Page19 |Page20 |Page21 |Page22 |Page23 |
|
|