Patent Definition

• The U.S. government issues patents to people who invent things that are new and useful. The patent gives the inventor "the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale or selling" the invention for 20 years, according to the United States Patent and Trade Office.
  
  

Patent Terms

• When you get a patent, it doesn't give you the right to make, use or sell your invention. It only lets you stop anyone else from making, using or selling whatever you've patented, according to the USPTO.
  
  

License Definition

• A license, which is short for patent license, is a contract between the owner of a patent and someone who wants to use the patented invention. The owner signs the license, which allows the other person, or company, to use the patented invention.
  
  

Patent Law

• The USPTO doesn't have any power over license disagreements or upholding patents. The owner of a patent has to protect his invention by suing anyone who tries to use the invention without a license, or breaks the terms of the license, according to the USPTO.
  
  

Fun Fact

• From 1976 to 2005 nearly four million patents were issued, according to the USPTO.