Question: What is a patent?
Answer: It is a property right for an invention granted by a government to the inventor. A United States patent gives inventors the right “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling their invention throughout the United States or importing their invention into the United States” for a limited time. In exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted and for fees paid to the United States.
See also - What Can and Cannot Be Patented?
