Business Success with Open Source

Patents

Patents protect inventions: ideas for products or processes that either are a new way to do something or are a technological advancement on an existing method. Taking out a patent on an invention gives the creator the right to profit from their idea for 20 years (though, as you likely expect, the length of time can vary by jurisdiction and type of patent). The inventor can produce and distribute the invention themselves, license others to do it for them, or sell the patent rights to someone else entirely. Regardless, until the patent expires, only the entity that holds it is allowed to use or produce that invention.

For trademarks and, as you’ll learn shortly, copyrights, there’s often no requirement to register prior to claiming the ...