Patents

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What is a Patent?

A patent is a right of ownership granted to a person by the government to exclude others from making or selling the claimed invention for a period of twenty years. There are three main types of patents:

Utility patents - granted for the function of something that is mechanical, electrical, chemical, compositional, or any combination of the above.
Design patents - granted solely on the look or appearance of something.
Plant patents - granted for unique, asexually reproduced plants.

Examples of things that may be patented:

Examples of things that may NOT be patented

Machines

Manufactured Products

Composition of matter (e.g. pharmaceuticals)

Processes (mechanical or practical, but not thought)

Designs

Asexually reproduced plants

Ideas

Mathematical Functions

Laws of nature

Scientific Principle