A patent is a set of prerogative and exclusive rights that is granted to an assignee or a discoverer by the government for a particular period of time. It means that any other person other than the inventor doesn’t have a right to use, sell, offer or import a patented invention. Usually, the term of patent is 20 years from the filling date. A patented item can be sold, mortgaged, assigned to other, licensed, given away or abandoned. Though patent is an exclusionary right, but the patent owner necessarily doesn’t have the right to exploit it. Specially, in case, if the invention is an improvement of prior invention. The objective of patent law is to encourage scientific research, new technology, and industrial progress.
International Patent Laws
Under international patent laws, an individual is granted certain sets of exclusive rights for a fixed duration, in which the inventor has to disclose his invention. This law protects the interests of the patent holder by minimizing generic competition and maximizing patent based revenue. When an inventor acquires a patent then it is valid only within the territorial boundaries and not in the other countries. As per the international patent law , any other person cannot sell, offer or import a patented invention. And anybody using the patented invention is considered as a criminal. These laws differ for every country.