Patents

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Patents are intellectual property rights issued by authorised bodies to inventors to make use of, and exploit their inventions for a limited period of time (generally 20 years). The patent holder has the legal authority to exclude others from commercially exploiting the invention (for a limited time period). In return for the ownership rights, the applicant must disclose the invention for which protection is sought.

http://www.epo.org/

https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel1_e.htm