ABSTRACT
This chapter gives introductory information regarding patents, the intellectual property right (IPR) law, and an overview of the modalities of IPRs. In particular, this chapter defines a patent (an official document issued by the government that describes an invention and furnishes an adequate right to exclude other parties from utilizing the invention for commercial objectives). It also highlights the difference between “patent” and “discovery.” To be acceptable for a patent, an invention is necessary to fulfill the following three main criteria: (a) must be novel or new, (b) must have some utility such as functional and/or operative, and (c) must not be obvious to a person skilled in the area of the invention. This chapter also discusses the distribution of intellectual property-filing activity across the world. Finally, the patenting process through years is also discussed. This chapter contains introductory information that will help readers to follow the other chapters.
