VPB 321: Animal Biotechnology (2+1)

PANTENTEE AND EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS

• The person to whom a patent is granted, is known as the patentee, the owner of the patent or the patent holder.
• Once a patent has been granted with respect to a particular country, anyone who wishes to exploit the invention commercially in that country must obtain the authorization of the patentee.
• In principle, anyone who exploits a patented invention without the patentee’s authorization commits an illegal act. The protection is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years.
• Once a patent expires, the protection ends, and the invention enters the public domain. The patentee no longer holds exclusive rights to the invention, which then becomes available for commercial exploitation by others.
• The rights conferred by a patent are not described in the patent itself. Those rights are described in the patent law of the country in which the patent is granted.
• The patent owner’s exclusive rights generally consist of the following in the case of a product patent, the right to prevent third parties without the owner’s consent from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing for these purposes the product; in the case of a process patent, the right to prevent third parties without the owner’s consent from using the process; and to prevent third parties from using, offering for sale, selling or importing for these purposes the products which were obtained directly by that process.