by Dale C. Hunt, PhD, and Hal W. Gibson
Volume 6, Issue 3 (Fall 2007)
A patent permits the patent holder to keep others out. That is, a patent holder can prevent others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing an invention within the United States and its territories and possessions. In the United States, these exclusionary rights generally last for 20 years from the date on which the patent application was filed. What the patent holder can keep others out of is defined by the “claims” of the patent. Patent claims describe the boundaries of the patent, much like a real property deed outlines the borders of a parcel of land. However, having a patent does not guarantee that the patent holder is free to use the claimed invention…
Citation:
Hunt DC, Gibson HW. Adding Patent Strength to Single-Use Products: Targeted Intellectual Property Strategies for Product Defense and Market Dominance. BioProcess J, 2007; 6(3): 38-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.12665/J63.Hunt