In the context of the entertainment industry, patent law is generally used for protecting equipment innovations such camera, film, music, and television equipment and other innovations in merchandising. Entertainment companies often obtain patents on the machines they create to display or perform entertainment products. A “patent” is a grant of a property right by the Government to an inventor. The United States Constitution gives Congress the right to provide for patent protection in legislation in order to encourage useful inventions. The patent itself provides a detailed description of the invention, and how it is used or how to make it. Thus, if you obtain a patent you cannot keep the matter secret, which is the province of Trade Secret Law. A patent enables the owner to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention for the life of the patent.
Federal statutes give an inventor the exclusive right to use, sell, and market his invention. The types of things that can be patented are things that are new, useful, and not obvious to those in the business to which the invention relates. An invention also may be a process, a new chemical or even a new type of plant