Patents

Debate the view that patents are a monopoly privilege that ought to be abolished.

1. What is a patent?
2. What kinds of things do patents cover?
3. Debate the views of patents.


1. What is a patent?

A Patent is a statutory grant which confers on an inventor or his legal successor the right to exclude others from using the invention. Patents have a limited duration, usually a period of at least 20 years. The granting of a patent is conditioned on novelty, a minimal degree of inventive ingenuity, and the industrial applicability of an invention. The patent as a legal right is not to be confused with a printed patent specification or with a particular invention.

To be patentable the invention must meet four special conditions:
¡¤ The invention has to be new

The invention must be the first time to be published in any way, anywhere in the world, before the date on which an application for a patent is filed.

¡¤ The invention has to be involved ...