Managing patent documentation

If copyright is the law of authorship and trademarks is the law of marketing, patents is the law of invention. A patent can be obtained for any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new or useful improvement thereof. A patent gives the patentee the right to exclude others from making, using, and selling devices that embody the claimed invention. In order to be awarded a patent the subject matter must be both novel and a step beyond the prior art which is known as "non-obviousness." Patents protect products and processes, not pure ideas. Unlike copyrights, patent rights do not vest until the patent is granted although, pending approval, the substance of many patent applications may be protected under trade secret laws.