What Executives and

Investors
Need to Know About Patent
Rights and Strategy
 Understanding Intellectual
Property
inventors exclusive right to an invention
for some period of time
The patent does not, however, give the
patent owner the right to practice the
invention claimed in the patent.
 The Congress shall have PowerTo
promote the Progress of Science and
useful Arts, by securing for limited
Times to Authors and Inventors the
exclusive Right to their respective
Writings and Discoveries.
Exhibit 1-1 Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution
specifically provides for patents.
 TYPES OF PATENTS
Utility patents
Design patents
Plant patents
 The Invention Must
Be new, not previously publicly
known(novelty).
Be a nonobvious extension or technical
advance over previous
inventions(nonobviousness).
Have industrial use or real-world utility.
Other Forms of Innovation Rights
Trademarks
Copyrights
Trade Secrets
 Five Invention Classes
1. New compositions of matter, such as new
chemical compounds
2. New processes or methods for making things
3. New machines
4. New manufactures, which can be thought of
as manufactured parts or machines with no
moving parts
5. Improvements over any of the previous four
types of inventions
Immerging Invention Classes
Biotechnology and genetic engineering
Software and Internet patents
 Types of IP Strategies
Strategy protecting a new invention
strategy for a product line or series of
inventions.
strategy for a business or company.
 IP Advisors Can Help In
Providing information on previous
patents and publications that can help
shorten the development time by not
reinventing inventions that have
already been disclosed.
Avoiding Infringement
Opposing and Enforcing Patents
Licensing