Contrary to what most people assume, a patent does not give the owner of the patent the right to use the patented invention. In fact, the exact opposite is true! A patent gives the owner of the patent the right to exclude others from using it. Patent owners typically charge a royalty to businesses that use (or “practice”) the patented invention and this arrangement as known as “licensing.”

What makes a patent useful to society is that it is available to the public. Today, access to patents is easier than ever thanks to the Internet, but prior to the on-line access we have today, the Department of Commerce set up Patent Libraries across the US. These Patent Libraries includes Search Indices so people could locate patents that applied to certain technologies or applications. Anybody can write to the Patent Office and order a copy of any patent for a modest fee.

Making patents available to the public enables each generation of inventor and innovator to build on the last generation of patents. The weakness of this same system, however, is that it makes patent infringement relatively easy. A business can easily use an inventor’s patent, and it is up to the patent owner to locate and identify the patent infringers. Patent infringement is not a crime, so there are no “Patent Police.” It is up to the patent owner to pursue justice and compensation for infringement of his (or her it its) patent through civil litigation.

As a result, patent reform should include strengthening the patent system by building in protection for patent owners. Patent reform should also include making sure that patent owners are properly compensated by patent infringers when patent infringement occurs. And patent reform should include making sure that the actual discoverers of inventions receive patents for them.

Please visit our What You Can Do page for ways to take action against patent reform that may do much more harm than good to our nation's patent system.