THE U.S. PATENT SYSTEM
The patent system in the United States differs in several ways
from what may be considered to be the worldwide norm, if such a
norm really exists.
Currently, with some exceptions such as pharmaceuticals and
medical devices, a U.S. patent has a term beginning on the date
on which a patent issues and ending 20 years from the date the
application was filed, which is to say that the patent term does
not begin while the application is pending; it begins only when
the patent is actually granted. It can be a matter of years
before a patent is granted from the time the patent application
is first filed.
Most other patent systems have patent terms that run for a
fixed term from the date the patent application was first filed.
For instance, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Canada,
and many other countries have patent terms of 20 years from first
filing of the patent application.
The United States is unique in its approach to the
allocation of patent rights. In the United States, patent rights
are granted to the first to invent rather than the universally
accepted approach of the first to file. Consequently the United
States has a unique Interference System that it uses to
determine which party was the first to invent.
The basic principles of novelty, utility, and nonobviousness
apply as prerequisites to patentability in the United States.
However, with regard to the determination of both novelty and
nonobviousness, what constitutes prior use or public knowledge
- prior art differs considerably from standards commonly
adopted elsewhere. Although subject matter described in a printed
publication or patent will constitute prior art, whether or not
it is published or patented in the United States, the same is not
true of subject matter in public use or known to the public. In
these latter cases, only use or knowledge within the United
States or its territories constitutes prior art. Many countries
determine the applicability of prior art without geographic
limitations.
The United States grants a one-year grace period from the
time that an invention is disclosed to the public to the time
that the patent application must be filed. In other words, as
long as an application for a patent is filed not more than one
year from the date the subject matter is publicly disclosed, the
applicant may obtain a patent. Elsewhere, the patent application
must be filed before any disclosure is made to the public. Thus,
in other countries, the inventors freedom of use and publication
of their inventions is greatly restricted. Some countries seek an
intermediate level of freedom for example, a six-month grace
period for use or public display, but only where the use is found
to be experimental and the public display is at an exhibition.
The United States requires that the best mode for working
the invention be disclosed as part of the patent application.
Most countries impose no such requirement, and therefore an
inventor may possibly hide the best way of using or making the
patented product or process. However, this practice is
antithetical to the underlying purpose of a patent system because
it hinders disclosures of technological innovations.
In the United States, patent applications are not published
or indexed until after they are granted. Thus, third parties may
not oppose the grant of a patent nor even know an application has
been filed. Other countries publish the patent applications and
have procedures for third parties to object to the granting of a
patent. The European Patent Office, for example, has such a
procedure.
Finally, the United States requires maintenance fees to be
paid at 3.5 years, 7.5 years, and 11.5 years after the original
grant of a patent, while other countries require annual
maintenance fees.
Back to top
|