Patenting Medical Technology

Abstract

Relatively few medical investigators have used the patent process to protect proprietary rights to their work, choosing instead simply to publish their results. The patent system was established by the Constitution two centuries ago. Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution reads as follows: The Congress shall have the power. . . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.This constitutional mandate led to the formation of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which has to date granted over . . .