Patent
Patents are rights obtained by an inventor from the government that give the inventor full control of their invention or idea in terms of business and purpose. In order to receive a patent for an idea, one must go through an application process that is rather expensive.
Thousands of patent applications are submitted every year. However, many patent ideas never see the light of day. In order to be approved for a patent, the idea must be useful in some positive way. Patents last about seven decades after the inventor dies. There are patent treaties with other countries that suggest other countries enforce patent laws. However, enforcement of these laws have not been strong and there have been several unfortunate cases where patents were stolen, copied or mimicked. Patents are crucial to guarantee one’s rights to their own creations.
Patents have been around in The United States since the lat 1700s. One of the greatest American inventors of all time, Thomas Edison had over one thousand patents. His inventions ranged from light bulbs and lamps to distribution of electricity and the phonograph. His inventions were absolutely ground breaking and completely innovative. For people at that time, being able to hear recorded sound, have electricity powered homes and incandescent light all seemed like magic. Thomas Edison’s inventions changed human lives forever.
The application process for obtaining a patent can unfortunately discourage many inventors to not follow through with patenting their ideas. In order to submit your idea for a patent, you must pay fees exceeding one thousand dollars. If an idea is approved for a patent, the applicant must pay almost double the amount of the first set of fees in additional fees. There is new proposed legislation in congress that could possibly lower or eliminate some of these fees. Utility patents are the most expensive to obtain. However, they could arguably be the most important in terms of direct effect on the general public. It is a shame that many great inventions never made it passed the drawing board simply because the inventor did not have the money to pay for the patent application process.
Without patents, people could steal anybody’s idea or invention and profit from something that is not theirs. Inventors are constantly challenged by the best new patents to create something better and more useful while also being one hundred percent original. Patents come from a concept started hundreds of years before Christ and continue to be an important part of advancing technology and science.