Patent Laws

There is no dearth of people on this planet who would rob a man of his creation for their personal profit. Patent laws ensure that this does not happen with a genuine innovator. The one who comes up with a product or a process must have the first right to reap fruits of the product of his labor and intellect.

If one were to be regularly robbed of one's creation, there would be no creativity left in the world worth the name. Industrial production has made unimaginable strides on account of innovation and hard work of the people. Morality demands that what you produce belongs to you.

A patent reinforces this basic moral principle. Of course, there are certain inventions that are so beneficial for the human race in general that a permanent patent cannot be granted on them.

Therefore, for a limited period of time patent protection is granted so that the inventor of such a useful product or process could reap as much benefit as possible from the product, after which the product comes in public domain.

This balances the interests of the community with the interest of the innovator. While the innovator gets the benefit of his innovation for a certain period of time, the community in general gets a product for itself.

Another reason for patent laws' being there is that government cannot support all the research that is required to keep pace with human development. Some private funding is required but those who have the means would not fund a research unless they have something to grain from it.

Patent protection ensures that they get their investment back with the profit and the people get a useful product. The individual researchers get recognition and money. This way the interest of all the parties is taken care of.

It also ensures that the big corporate giants remain interested in funding the research and human knowledge keeps getting richer. An innovator would not find enough money and resources that are required to support modern research. So, he would need support from private parties. It keeps the able brains from getting frustrated from not being able to pursue their research. The talent is, thus, utilized and human race benefited.

However, in order to get protection under patent laws the product or the process has to be distinctive and original in the sense that it should not just be a minor improvement on a previously existent product. It should also not be a repackaging of tradition knowledge. It should be something that was not there before. It needs to stand out from all that already exists.

The legal protection provided by the patent laws has proved to be a boon to human race. So, if you have a patentable product, your next stop should be patents office.