If you missed Tuesday's issue of the North Idaho Business Journal, take a look at what contributes $5 trillion and 40 million jobs to the national economy: innovation. Read about Coeur d'Alene resident Brent Regan, alone responsible for 11 patents for inventions ranging from aircraft parts to better dialysis for his wife. When Brent encounters a problem, he finds a way to fix it - for all of us.

Patents are a bit misunderstood. They don't protect objects, nor do they protect ideas. They protect the application of one to the other, encouraging invention by giving inventors exclusive rights to profit from them for a limited time (generally 20 years). For the protected period patent holders may sell, lease, give, or refuse the right to copy their inventions. Patents are only one type of "intellectual property;" others include copyright (column, book, or Calvin cartoon) and trademark/trade names (e.g., Pepsi's logo and name).

Consider the famous 3M Post-it note. The patents granted to 3M when its employee invented the special glue did not protect the glue alone, nor the stack of yellow paper. They protected the design and process by which such a glue could be used in that application (to make removable sticky notes).

As a young country we may not have been first, but we're No. 1 now. When the first U.S. patent was issued in 1790 only three were granted (Britain granted 68). Now the U.S. outnumbers the world, with 247,713 total patents issued in 2011.

Patent protection doesn't start until the federal Patent and Trademark Office approves it. Since this complex progress may take a year or two, applicants can mark their inventions with "patent pending" or "patent applied for" as public notice that they may sue or stop others from reproducing it. Once granted, the 20-year period dates back to the application date.

Three are three types of patents. The vast majority are utility patents (224,505 in 2011); design patents rank second (21,356), followed by plant patents (823; the remainder were reissued patents). As defined by the USPTO:

Utility patents protect "any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof."

Examples include a microwave oven and genetically engineered bacteria to clean up oil spills.

Design patents protect "new, original, and ornamental designs" for a manufactured object, such as jewelry or computer icons.

Plant patents (meaning agricultural) "may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers, and asexually reproduces, any distinct and new variety of plant."

Patents aren't just about profit to inventors (or their employers). Providing a public process and time-limited protection for useful innovation benefits the public. At first it was the crown; the term "letters patent" originally described a royal decree granting exclusive rights. We've come far from that. The word patent originates from the Latin patere, which means "to lay open" for inspection.

And so they are. Patent applications and their supporting documents may be publicly accessed online at USPTO.gov.

"Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?" - Ben Franklin

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email sholehjo@hotmail.com.

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