What is a patent? A patent is a legal instrument that represents
a bargain between the patent owner and the country which granted
the patent. The country grants to the patent owner an exclusive
right to manufacture, use, sell or offer for sale the subject
matter of an invention as defined by the claims of the patent.
In exchange, the inventor provides the country, and by
extension, the population of that country, with a full technical
teaching and description of the invention. That technical
disclosure must be complete and include a full explanation of
the invention sufficient for others skilled in the area to
practice and reproduce the invention. A patent is only effective
in the territory in which it is granted. Subject to payment of
required fees, a patent in Canada is valid for 20 years from the
date on which the patent application was filed, irrespective of
the date that the application matures to a patent. Who can
apply? Generally speaking, the inventor is the first owner of
the invention, and therefore