A patent is an exclusionary intellectual property right granted by a state (national government) to an inventor for a limited time period in exchange for an invention’s public disclosure. A patent does not give the inventor a right to use the invention. A United States patent gives the patent holder the right, for a limited time, to exclude others from making, using, offering to sell, selling, or importing into the U.S. the subject matter within the scope of protection granted by the patent.
The patent application procedures and requirements, as well as the rights obtained by the inventor, vary between countries according to national laws and international agreements.