Patent – An exclusive privilege granted to an inventor to make, use or sale an invention for a set number of years , depending of the country rules. Normally, no one company can retain a monopoly over a product or service because this is considered to economically harmful to society. But as a financial incentive to potential inventors, the Government grants a temporary monopoly to that inventor through the issuance of a patent. This is why the inventor, to whom the patent has been issued to, is called “patentee”. There are also lawyers who deal in their practice primary with Patent Law and civil lawsuits related to the Patent protection.

See also for example http://law.freeadvice.com/resources/gov_material/patent_trademark_office_patent_defined.htm and http://www1.bpo.bg/index.php?lang=en .