Patent
A patent is essentially an agreement between an inventor and the government.
In exchange for full disclosure of the invention, the government grants the
inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to
sell and importing the patented invention. To be patentable, an invention must
be useful, novel (new) and non-obvious. If these tests are met, then an inventor
is entitled to patent protection and the government is obligated to grant it.
In the field of outsourcing, patents become a significant issue due to the
expansion of judicial interpretation as to what is a patentable process.
Enterprises considering outsourcing should understand the business implications
of business process patents.
Additional Resources
Intellectual Property
Copyright
Moral Rights
Trademark
Trade Secret
Knowledge Management
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