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Intellectual property

patent

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. Under certain circumstances, patent term extensions or adjustments may be available.

The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention. Once a patent is issued, the patentee must enforce the patent without aid of the USPTO.

There are three types of patents: (1) utility patents; (2) design patents; and (3) plant patents.

The Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to enact laws relating to patents, in Article I, section 8, which reads "Congress shall have power . . . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Under this power Congress has from time to time enacted various laws relating to patents. The first patent law was enacted in 1790. The patent laws underwent a general revision which was enacted July 19, 1952, and which came into effect January 1, 1953. It is codified in Title 35, United States Code. Additionally, on November 29, 1999, Congress enacted the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA), which further revised the patent laws.

The patent law specifies the subject matter for which a patent may be obtained and the conditions for patentability. The law establishes the United States Patent and Trademark Office to administer the law relating to the granting of patents and contains various other provisions relating to patents.



State Statutes for the State of Texas

CHAPTER 182 - ELECTRONIC EXCHANGE OF HEALTH INFORMATION

(a) The corporation shall take commercially reasonable measures to protect its intellectual property , including obtaining patents, trademarks, and copyrights where appropriate.

CHAPTER 172 - ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL DISPUTES

(K) intellectual or industrial property, including trademarks, patents, copyrights, and software programs

CHAPTER 12 - POWERS AND DUTIES OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES

(b) Intellectual property for which the department has applied for or received a patent, copyright,

CHAPTER 11 - PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT

(b) Intellectual property for which the department has applied for or received a patent, copyright,

Federal Statutes

§ 2182. Inventions conceived during Commission contracts; ownership; waiver; hearings

Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (unless the Commission advises the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

§ 14505. Entrepreneurship initiative

(2) a service in support of the protection of intellectual property through a patent, a trademark, or

§ 8112. Definition

intellectual property enforcement” means matters relating to the enforcement of laws protecting copyrights, patents , trademarks, other forms of intellectual property, and trade secrets, both in the United States and

§ 2181. Inventions relating to atomic weapons, and filing of reports

complete description thereof unless such invention or discovery is described in an application for a patent filed with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office by such person within the time required for the filing of such report. The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and

§ 1744. Copies of United States Patent and Trademark Office documents, generally

the United States Patent and Trademark Office and certified by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or by another officer of the

§ 404a. Specific limitations

(2) compel the disclosure, transfer, or licensing of intellectual property to any third party (such as patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and proprietary information); or

§ 2114a. Negotiating objectives with respect to trade in services, foreign direct investment, and high technology products

adequate and effective means for foreign nationals to secure, exercise, and enforce exclusive rights in intellectual property (including trademarks, patents, and copyrights);

§ 3202. Beneficiary country

has taken steps to repudiate or nullify— (i) any existing contract or agreement with, or (ii) any patent , trademark, or other intellectual property of, a United States citizen or a corporation, partnership adequate and effective means for foreign nationals to secure, exercise, and enforce exclusive rights in intellectual property, including patent, trademark, and copyright rights;