PATENT PROTECTION
The United States patent system was created to help achieve various socially desirable goals. By providing an inventor with an exclusive right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time, a patent rewards an inventor for the time and effort expended in developing the invention, thereby encouraging further creative efforts. Also, most new inventions have uncertain commercial value, and the patent system provides a degree of protection from competition for a limited period of time, thus encouraging investment in new technology. Additionally, the patent system encourages inventors to make their inventions known rather than to maintain them in a state of secrecy, thereby increasing the amount of technological knowledge available to the public. Finally, the patent system helps to aid in the sale or transfer of technology both within the United States and in foreign countries, by giving a commercially tangible form to otherwise intangible ideas. At the outset of the patent discussion, it must be emphasized that the U.S. Congress passed a number of significant changes to U.S. Patent Laws in September 2011. The law is commonly referred to as The America Invents Act. Notable changes included by way of The America Invents Act include: • First To File System (rather than the U.S.’s previous first to invent system)
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