Utility Patent Case Study

2176 Words5 Pages

QUESTION 1
1.1 Patent definition
• A patent is the registered, exclusive right of an inventor to make, use and sell his or her invention for a limited period provided that full disclosure of the invention is made.
• A patent may be granted for any new invention which involves an inventive step and which is capable of being used or applied in trade, industry or agriculture.
• There are two types of patent, namely: a utility patent and a design patent.
 A utility patent
 Protects the structure, composition or the function of an invention.
 A utility patent lasts up to twenty (20) years from the earliest filing date.
 It is more expensive and difficult to obtain.
 According to the case study, a good example of a utility patent is “knocking on the door of hosiery …show more content…

2.3 Definition of Intellectual property
• Intellectual property is concerned with immaterial or incorporeal objects which come into existence through mental activity of a person but which, once created, have an independent existence, separate from and outside of the person who created them.
Intellectual property law includes the legal rules which determine the nature and scope of a particular class of immaterial or incorporeal objects; what the requirements are for the creation or establishment of such projects; which person or persons will acquire and enjoy rights in respect of such objects; what the content of such rights will be; how and when such rights may be enforced, and how such rights will be terminated.
• Examples of mental products that may be protected as intellectual property include, books, technical reports, paintings, drawings, and sculptures, video and audio recordings, motion pictures, computer programs, inventions, industrial designs, trademarks, plant varieties, trade secrets and biological

Open Document