Role of Patents
Patents are the vehicle by which many inventions are protected.
Issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, they generally have a term of 20 years from the date of filing.
One common misconception is that patents empower researchers to make or sell products and services. That is not true. Patents act as “negative rights” that allow assignees to exclude others from producing, using and/or selling the inventions.
Patents can provide corporations market exclusivity that may be necessary to recoup the considerable investment required to bring products to market.
Some researchers have argued that patenting inventions stifles innovation; however, in reality, patents may actually promote industrial research funding and commercialization by providing corporations the incentive to invest in university research projects as part of their product development plan.