Of the 4 main types of Intellectual Property Protection, Copyright, Trademark, Trade Secret, and Patent, Patent is introduced here.
A Patent is a property right granted by the Government of the United States of America to an inventor "to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throught the United states or importing the invention intor the United States" for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.
3 Types of Patents
Utility--an new, useful, and nonobvious process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.
See http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/utility.jsp
Design--a new, orginial, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.
See http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip/pdf/brochure_05.pdf
Plant--an asexually reproduced distinct and new variety of plant.
4 Criteria are
The terms of utility and plant patents are 20 years from application date.
The term of design patents is 15 years from date of issue.
Citations for patents vary depending on the format:
MLA Citation:
Jobs, Steve, et al. "Highly portable media device." Patent 7,889,497. 15 February 2011.
APA Citation:
Jobs, S., et al. (2011). U.S. Patent No. 7,880,497. Washington, DC: U.S.
ACS Citation:
Jobs, S., et al. Highly portable media device. U.S. Patent 7,889,497, 2011.
CSE Citation:
Jobs, S, et al, inventor; 2011 Feb. 15. Highly portable media device. United States patent US 7,889,497.
See also: http://www.patent-search-information.com/how-to-cite-patent.html
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office http://www.uspto.gov
USPTO Search Page https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/static/pages/landing.html
USPTO Classification Page http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/classification/
European Patent Office Search Page http://worldwide.espacenet.com/
