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A patent is an exclusive right to exploit (make, use, sell, or import) an invention over a limited period of time (20 years from filing) within the country where the application is made. Patents are granted for inventions which are novel, inventive (non-obvious) and have an industrial application (useful). There are other types of exclusive rights over intangible assets, notably copyright, design protection and trademarks, but patents provide a broader protection that extends beyond the specific expression of an invention to the invention itself. Due to this control over the technology, the patent holder is in a position to set a higher-than-competitive price for the corresponding good or service, which allows recovery of innovation costs. In return, the applicant must disclose the invention in the text of the application, which is published 18 months after application (From OECD report Patents and Innovation: Trends and challenges, 2004, p.8). As a patent is valid only within the country in which it is granted, it is subject to national laws and litigation settled in national courts. The forthcoming community patent in Europe will be an exception, as it will provide protection in all EU member countries, and litigation will be centralised in a specialised court. International agreements such as the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), signed in 1994 and overseen by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), tend to place restrictions on what national laws and policies can do. TRIPS introduced intellectual property rules into the multilateral trading system for the first time, in an attempt to guarantee the same minimum standards of protection across countries. (From OECD report Patents and Innovation: Trends and challenges, 2004, p.8). The right embedded in the patent can be assigned by the inventor to somebody else, usually to his employer, a corporation, and/or sold to or licensed for use by somebody else; this right can be enforced only by the potential threat of or an actual suit in the courts for infringement damages (Griliches, 1990, p. 1661-1662). The standard of novelty and utility imposed on the granting of such a right is not very high (Griliches, 1990, p. 1663). In Europe, the EPO grants about 70% of the patents applications. In the US more than 80% of the patents applications are granted. This is the latest information provided to you by a well known patent and intellectual property company
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