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International Protection Directions Career Opportunities **New Job posting** Firm  Photos Support Staff Bourque & Associates P.A. 835 Hanover St., Suite 301 Manchester, NH 03104 Tel:   603-623-5111 Tel:   800-539-5111 Fax: 603-624-1432 dbourque@nhpatlaw.com	x	Patents Patents are essential legal devices for the protection of ideas. Such ideas include both simple and complex breakthroughs in technology and often become the foundation of a profitable business. Patents are granted by a nation or government to individual inventors who may wish to start their own business or license their invention. Large corporations also obtain patents to maintain their competitive edge in industry by protecting their exclusive use of innovative ideas.  Although U.S. patents must be applied for in the name of the true inventor(s), the patent rights may be assigned or transferred to another, including the inventor's employer. A U.S. patent protects an invention by granting the patent owner the right to prohibit others from making, using, and selling the patented invention within the U.S. for up to twenty years. These rights are granted in exchange for full disclosure of the invention to the public. Because patents are "territorial," a patent application must be filed in every jurisdiction in which protection is desired. In the U.S., inventors who wish to protect their inventions are encouraged to file patent applications for their inventions without delay. However, U.S. patent laws allow inventors a one-year grace period to sell or disclose their invention to the public before filing for a patent. After the one-year period, the invention is in the public domain and cannot be patented. However, this one-year grace period is not available in most foreign countries. Therefore, if foreign patent protection is to be considered, a U.S. patent application should be filed before the sale or public disclosure of the invention. Before granting a patent, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Patent Office) reviews the patent application to be certain that the claimed invention is novel, non-obvious, and clearly described in the patent application. The processing of a patent application typically takes one to two years from the time of its filing with the Patent Office.  Within that period of time, the inventor, typically through a patent attorney, corresponds and negotiates with the Patent Office (patent prosecution) to assure that the scope of the patent rights are consistent with the prior technology and the requirements of the Patent Office and patent laws. Patents are generally not renewable, and once a patent expires, anyone can make, use or sell the invention.  Generally, a patentability search of known technology is conducted prior to filing a patent application to facilitate the prosecution of the patent application and to assist in obtaining for the inventor the broadest possible scope of patent rights. Following the patentability search, the attorney can both advise an inventor as to whether a patent application should be filed and represent the inventor before the Patent Office in the prosecution of an application.