Patents are authorized by the U.S. Constitution. In Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8, it states that "The Congress shall have power . . . to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

There are three types of patents, Utility Patents, Design Patents and Plant Patents. 

• Utility patents provide legal protection for advances in technology and science applied to inventions.
• Design patents provide protection for new artistic designs on manufactured items.
• Plant patents provide protection for new asexual plants.

IBM receives $3.5 Billion in royalties per year from licensing its portfolio of patents.

20 years from the date of filing is the term of a utility patent.

A Provisional Patent Application (PPA) is the way to reserve "a place in line" and your right to file for a utility patent for up to one year after the PPA is filed.

A utility patent allows the inventor to legally enforce excluding others from making, using, importing or selling or offering for sale his or her invention for the duration of the patent.

One year is the time an inventor has from the first offer for sale of the invention or first public disclosure to file a utility patent.