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  • What is a patent?
  • A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. 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. US patent grants are effective only within the US, US territories, and US possessionsA patent allows one to prohibit others from making, using, selling, offering for sale or importing into the United States for a period of up to twenty years from the date of filing the application.

    Updated: 11/12/99
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