What is a patent?

A patent is a type of legal property right.

Just as owning real estate property gives you the right to exclude others from trespassing on your land, a patent also gives you the right to exclude others from "trespassing" on your invention. In the US, patents may be granted for a limited time for new and useful processes, machines, products, and compositions of matter.

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Just as land has definite boundaries specified by a survey, a patent has definite boundaries specified in its claims. If someone else makes, uses, or sells what is within the scope of the claims of a patent, then they are "trespassing" on the patent rights ("infringing" is the legal term used). And just as a real estate owner can lease out their land to renters, a patent owner can license the patent to others.

Just as an owner of real estate property must pay property tax to the government, an owner of a patent also must pay the government a property tax (called a maintenance fee, renewal or annuity).

This is a rough analogy, that breaks down if you push it too far. For example, whereas real estate property boundaries are usually non-overlapping, the boundaries of patent rights can intersect and overlap. Another difference is that patent rights expire after a limited time, usually 20 years from the time the patent application is filed. And, whereas real estate property is tied to pre-existing real land, patents are intellectual property that are virtual in the sense that the rights are tied to making, using, or selling anything within the general scope defined by the claims.

There is a lot more to say about what kinds of things can and can not be patented, the criteria that must be met for an invention to be considered patentable, the process of preparing a patent application, filing it, and getting it granted, and so on. But the above hopefully gives basic idea of what a patent is.

ANT Lawyers - A Law firm in Vietnam is supported by a team of experienced patent, trademark, design attorneys with qualification and skills handling full range of legal services relating to intellectual property rights in Vietnam.  We have specialized in the preparation and registration of patents, trademarks and designs for our clients.

Source: Quora

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What are the disadvantages of getting a patent, if any?

There are many advantages to patenting your inventions. You are granted a monopoly on your invention by the government in your jurisdiction for a known period of time.

You can license it to others and collect licensing fees and royalties.

You may also use it as a trading card with a competitor, e.g., licensing your patent to a competitor, and in return, obtaining licensing rights to a patent that is owned by the competitor. It is a very common practice used by large companies to avoid expensive infringement lawsuits.

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You can use it in a public relations campaign to position your company as an innovator.

However A patent is published for everybody to see and learn how you have implemented your invention. This is the only disadvantage that I see. Anybody can implement your invention, after its publication, without telling you about it. Proving infringement is a very expensive and time consuming process.

If you wish to keep your invention confidential for ever, don’t file a patent. Treat it as a trade secret by making sure to take adequate steps to always keep it confidential like Coca-Cola keeps it formula secret. The Secret Of Trade Secret Success

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