A patent, in law, is a document issued by a government conferring some special right or privilege. In the United States, the term is restricted to patents for inventions granted under federal statute. The specific attributes of novelty for which a patent is sought are called claims; thus, a patent can have several claims. The patent gives the inventor the exclusive privilege of using a certain process or of making, using, and selling a specific product or device for a specified period of time.

Once a patent is granted, issues of infringement, scope, or any other questions related to the grant are within the jurisdiction of the U.S. district courts. Infringement consists of knowingly and wrongfully making, using, or selling someone else's patented invention.

In general, a patent affords protection against infringement only within the jurisdiction of the government by which it is issued; therefore, inventors should secure a patent in every country in which they want protection. Patent laws have been enacted in most nations; the most important international treaty applicable to patents is the International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
An important issue in EP-related patent law is software patents. Generally, software patents do not cover the entire program; instead, they cover algorithms and techniques. A software patent eligibility problem may arise when the algorithms and techniques mentioned in a patent application have already been formulated and are being used independently by other programmers at the time the application is filed.
In the next lesson you will learn about e-commerce privacy and confidentiality issues.

Click the Quiz link below to complete a quiz on copyright, trademarks, and patents.
Copyright Trademarks Patents - Quiz