What Is A Patent?

 The Latin word "patent" means "to lay open" or "make available for public inspection."

A patent is a numbered legal document connected to an intellectual property or invention which is issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office after a patent application has been approved. It is granted to anyone who invents a device, product, or object that is useful or improves upon an existing invention.

The inventor has a limited period of time (usually 5 to 20 years) to demonstrate their invention and to offer it for sale. The actual patent prevents all others from copying it and selling it. Anyone who interferes, infringes or attempts to steal the details of a patent in order to duplicate it to put his own name on it can be sued.

The inventor must write a description on the patent application that is worded with just enough detail so a person with basic skills in that particular field could operate the device. The description must be written on an "Enabling Disclosure" form and show that the invention is actually in his possession when the patent was filed. 

Anyone can make the argument that by sharing details, the invention is at risk to be copied because of this disclosure. But it is the patent itself that protects the inventor from other people who try to file a patent application for something they never invented or have never operated.  

If the basic information about the invention is omitted, then the patent is considered violated and it might not be re-issued. Depending on the gravity of the violation, the patent could also be permanently revoked. 

Not everyone agrees that a patent is a good thing, so they don't bother  getting one. Ben Franklin is a case in point. For all his inventions, he never filed for a single patent because he wanted to cut the red tape so the public could be exposed to the product.   

There are some inventors who refuse to get a patent until the last weeks before the product goes public because they feel the "basic" wording of the Enabling Disclosure gives away too much information about their intellectual property so it can be duplicated.  Not filing a patent leaves themselves open to anyone who wants to copy their idea.   

There are some inventors who get a patent for every step in the process of creating their invention because they feel they are actually protecting it from theft.  

Each invention is different. The process of creating it is different. Each inventor needs to decide how to proceed in obtaining patents - either get patents in increments or obtain one for the whole completed project.

The bottom line is - a patent protects an invention from being stolen. 

If it can be stolen because someone was able to figure out the end result because there was more than enough information provided from the steps in the beginning of the project, then either the Enabling Disclosure was not basic enough (it was too precise) or it is best if the inventor waited to file for the patent when more of the invention is in place for his patent to protect his invention.

Sharing years in advance before an invention is market-ready is one of the reasons why inventors end up in court, either being sued or suing others for infringement.

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