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A patent grants the owner the right to prevent other from making, using, and selling the patented invention for a specified number of years. Patent law applies to three main categories: processes, such as algorithms, business methods, and medical techniques; machines; and articles of manufacture, including mechanical and electronic devices, chemicals, and medicines.
An underlying idea of patent law is to encourage inventors to disclose knowledge for the advancement of society in exchange for a limited period of exclusive rights to the invention. Unlike patent law in many other countries, that of the United States is based on the person who was "first to invent," where others grant the patent to the person who was "first to file."
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