Patents in General

Patents can be characterized as financial monopolies, which entitle the patent holder to prohibit professional use of the patented invention by others. Thus, the right to prohibit extends to, for instance, selling, distribution, marketing and publication of the invention. The right to prohibit exists for a fixed term and it is regionally limited. A patent may be of financially very valuable to the inventor, should the industrial application or applications of the invention become a commercial success.

If a patent to an invention is granted to the inventor, the invention becomes public the moment the patent is granted or at the latest 18 months after the date of the patent application. The patent application must include the patent specification documents, on the basis of which an expert in the relevant sector must be able to manufacture the patented product. During the patent’s period of validity, only the patent holder is permitted to use the patent for commercial purposes. On the other hand, following expiry of the period of validity, the invention becomes free intellectual capital of the society at large that may be freely used by anyone.

In addition to furthering product development within companies, and thus promoting competition between companies, the purpose of the patent system is also to supply the society with new technical inventions.