A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem. To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application.

There are three types of patents – Utility, Design, and Plant. Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or compositions of matters, or any new useful improvement thereof.A patent protects new inventions, processes, or scientific creations, a trademark protects brands, logos, and slogans, and a copyright protects original works of authorship.Under the 1970 Patents Act, the scope of patent protection was limited and only covered inventions that were new, useful and industrially applicable. The 1970 definition of an invention as “a manner of manufacture” has been replaced in section 2(1) with a broader concept: namely ‘a new product or process’.