An inventor can obtain a patent to protect his or her idea.
A patent isundestood as a form of intellectual property. A patent grants its owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, and even importing an invention for a limited period of time, usually twenty years. The patent rights are granted in exchange for an enabling public disclosure of the invention. In most countries patent rights fall under civil law and the patent holder has to sue someone infringing the patent in order to enforce his or her rights.