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A patent is a property right in inventions, that is, indevices or processes that perform a “useful” function. Anew or improved mousetrap is an example of a type ofdevice which may be patented. A patent effectively grantsthe inventor a limited monopoly on the manufacture, use, or sale of the invention. However, a patent actually onlygrants to the patentee the right to exclude (i.e., to preventothers from practicing the patented invention); it does notactually grant to the patentee the right to use the patentedinvention.

Not every innovation or discovery is patentable. TheU.S. Supreme Court has, for example, identified three categoriesof subject matter that are unpatentable, namely“laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas.” Reducing abstract ideas to some type of “practical application,”i.e., “a useful, concrete and tangible result,” ispatentable, however. U.S. patents, since June 8, 1995, lastfrom the date of issuance until twenty years from the originalfiling date of the patent application (the previousterm was seventeen years from date of issue).