1. The rules for patents are similar for most countries.
Contents:
1 Getting a patent
2 Using a patent
3 What can be patented
4 Marking
5 Parts of a patent
Getting a patent
To get a patent, the inventor must ask the
government by describing the invention in writing.
This is called a patent application. The inventor can
write the patent application, but it is usually written
by a person trained to write patent applications.
This person is called a patent agent or, if the person
is a lawyer, a patent attorney.

2. The government does not usually just give the
inventor a patent. Instead, the government tries to
confirm whether the idea is actually new. This is
called patent examination. The government will try
to find books, stories, or even other patents that
show that the idea was not new. The inventor, or
his or her patent attorney, then try to show how the
inventor's idea is different from anything that the
government finds.
If the government finds that the inventor's idea is
new and useful, it will publish the patent. The
government will also send the inventor a copy of his
or her patent application with a special seal. This
copy is the patent.
The inventor must also pay the government a tax to
get a patent. Usually, an inventor pays money to ask
for the patent, and the inventor pays money when

3. he or she gets a patent. In some countries, the
owner of a patent must also pay money to keep the
patent. Some can be cheap and some can be
expensive.
Using a patent
The owner of a patent can stop other people from
using their idea. If someone other than the patent
owner uses the patent, this is called infringing a
patent. If the owner knows that someone is
infringing his or her patent, the patent owner can
ask a court to stop them. If the court agrees that
the other person was using the patent, the court
can make that person pay a fine to the patent
owner.
The patent owner can give other people permission
to use their patent. This is called a license. The
person that wants to use another person's patent
will usually pay money to the patent owner.
What can be patented

4. Patents most often cover products or processes
that contain ‘new’ functional or technical ideas.
They are concerned with how things work, how
they are made or what they are made of. Patents
cover many different things such as electronics,
medicines, agriculture and transport – anything in
fact from a small detail in an electric switch to an
entire power station.
Marking
Often a product is marked with a text saying 'patent
pending’ or 'pat. pending', which means that a
patent has been asked for (part of) the product.
Then people are warned that they should not copy
the invention.
Parts of a patent
Patents are usually very long. They include a
number of smaller parts. A patent usually includes a
section that briefly describes the idea called the
abstract. It also may include a section that describes
other people's inventions and how the inventor's

5. idea is different called the "background of the
invention."
The patent also includes a long description of the
idea itself called a "detailed description." In this
section, the inventor tries to describe every detail of
his or her invention.
The patent also has a number of pictures called the
"figures." The figures are usually drawn by people
called draftsman that are trained to draw in a
special way. The pictures are labeled with numbers
to show different parts of the invention.
At the end of most patents is a section called the
claims. These are usually numbered. They include
the a short statement that lists all of the things
needed for the invention. A court will use the claims

6. to decide if another person is "infringing the
patent."