The Background of our Patent System
The Key to a Healthy Economy

Some of the founders of our country, such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, were inventors themselves, so it is not too surprising that Article I of our Constitution gave Congress the right to establish a patent system. The founders established this country on the principle of individual liberty, and they provided for the protection of private property rights both as a means for protecting individual liberty and as a means for developing a healthy economy. In order to encourage invention and innovation, they also created private property rights in inventions, or patents.

The public benefit of the patent system is tremendous; the beneficial results include the introduction of new products, improved products, cost reductions, a sharing of information, the creation of jobs, and, most importantly, profits, which fuel a healthy economy. Considering the fact that the Patent Office is supported by users, not the taxpayers, and considering the tremendous economic benefits of patents, the patent system is probably the second most effective economic stimulus package around, second only to the creation and protection of basic private property rights.

If everyone were free to copy an invention as soon as it went on the market, then the inventor who created the invention (or the investor who invested in that invention) would be at a competitive disadvantage, because competitors could take advantage of the invention without incurring the costs of doing the creative work and taking the risk required to bring a new product to market. Thus, the normal market forces create a disincentive to developing inventions. A patent solves that problem by giving the inventor property rights in his or her creation -- specifically, the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the claimed invention for a period of time. This means that, if the inventor files a patent application which meets the government's standards for granting a patent, and if the inventor can bring the invention to market, and if customers are willing to buy it at a price which gives the inventor a nice profit margin, then patent rights will allow the inventor to prevent competitors from rushing in and undercutting the profit margins on that invention for a period of time.

This system makes an invention more appealing to investors and entrepreneurs who must take the risk to develop the invention and bring the product to market. However, the costs and risks remain on the inventor and the investors, and competitors are still free to compete by providing other products not covered by the patent. Competitors also can learn from the patent and are free to try to design around the patent. The only cost to the public is the cost to buy the product, and the public is free to buy or not to buy.

We are very pleased to be part of the patenting process. We enjoy the challenge of trying to obtain the broadest possible patent protection for our clients, and we are particularly pleased when our clients profit from their inventions.