The United States Patent & Trademark Office describes a patent as:
"...an intellectual property right granted by the Government of the United States of America to an inventor 'to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States' for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted."
United States Patent and Trademark Office. "Patents." [Retrieved from http://www.uspto.gov/patents/index.jsp]
To see a sample patent, click this image to go to patent "Injection shuttle system: US 4151636 A"
Use these sources to find patents:
