Patent protection is vital to the economic growth and technological advancement of the United States. People who think of new ideas and are capable of creating new inventions deserve to receive credit for their work and that credit includes monetary values. When a new invention is created, the inventor deserves to have the exclusive rights of ownership belonging to that item.
Exclusive rights give a patent owner the right to be the only person profiting off of a patent for a set period of time. When a licensor grants a licensee the right to be the only party creating an invention, it is up to the inventor to take advantage of the situation because their exclusive ownership will not last forever. Anyone or group that infringes on a patented item is committing patent infringement.
Why Patent?
Obtaining a patent from the USPTO is the best way to protect intellectual property from anyone looking to infringe on an original idea or invention. If someone invents a new product but does not patent it, that item is not patent protected. If someone steals that item and manages to get the item patent protected with the USPTO, they will receive credit for inventing the item and have the full protection and rights afforded for the USPTO.
The owner of a patent is entitled to the production, marketing and sales of that patent. One does not want to lose out on the rewards of inventing a useful item because they failed to receive a patent. Those who suffer from patent infringement are able to receive monetary reward if they successfully patented their product prior to the infringement.
Exclusive Licenses
Exclusive licenses give lincensees full legal protection from patent infringement. They are the sole owners of a patent and have the right to sell and profit off the patent. The lincensor may require the exclusive lincensee to meet specific annual royalty minimum quotas. Failure to meet the commercial demands of a patent could result in losing the license or being demoted to a non-exclusive license.
Non-exclusive Licenses
These licenses are not protected by the USPTO in infringement cases unless otherwise noted. Licensors that offer non-exclusive licenses to patent owners do not trust the lincensee to meet the commercial expectations of the licensor so the licensor grants non-exclusive licenses to multiple people. Most owners of non-exclusive licenses would prefer to be exclusive license owners.
