A patent provides the inventor, or the inventor's successor in title, the exclusive right to the invention for a limited period of time. This right generally enables the patentee to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention. As a consequence, the patentee can also grant licenses to third parties, letting them exploit the invention on such terms as the patent may prescribe. The patent term in the U.S. is 20 years from filing. A trademark is any word, symbol, design or device used to identify a product.
Service marks involve similar descriptors to identify a service.
The purpose of a trademark or service mark is to identify goods put on the market, thereby distinguishing them from other goods and services, and to indicate their source or origin. These marks enable consumers to recognize products they have previously purchased so that they can exercise their preference purchase them again. Accordingly, trademark owners usually make every effort to maintain or improve the quality of their goods. To a large extent, therefore, trademarks have become a guarantee of quality. The Trips agreement, for example, provides that initial registration of a trademark must be valid for a period of at least seven years, and that registration is renewable indefinitely.