If you are an owner of an invention, it is of the utmost importance to file and register your patent to prevent others from copying your invention, importing your invention, disposing of your invention, or using your invention, or manufacturing and trading with your invention without your knowledge or approval.
Once you receive a patent then you can have the peace of mind knowing that no one can trade with your product for up to twenty years without your approval by means of a legal binding contract or license. An owner of an invention who has patent protection in place can however allow others to trade with the invention by means of a legal agreement and monthly royalty payment agreement to the owner, based on sales of the invention.
USA patent act requirements are all relatively straightforward. An invention needs to be new, inventive and serve an actual purpose that can be put to good use in order to qualify as a patentable invention as explained on https://www.techtimes.com/articles/246245/20191127/why-inventhelp-is-essential-for-entrepreneurs.htm. However, there are many terms and conditions which relate to the requirements which might disqualify an invention from being considered patentable according to the US patent act such as:
If an invention is public knowledge, been used commercially before or there is another invention on the market already which is similar the invention, as the invention will then not be regarded as novel.
If a skilled person in the same field of trade considers the invention to be obvious, as the invention will not be regarded as inventive.
If public disclosure of the invention occurred before applying to file the patent – searches should be conducted through patent databases as well as literature databases to confirm that an invention is novel.
If the exact or similar invention exists in another country then the invention will no longer be seen as novel and the invention will be denied a patent application as you can see from https://www.state-journal.com/business/inventors-benefit-from-greater-resources-with-inventhelp/article_2ed00b0a-0a69-11ea-bce0-077a934cdaa3.html.
However, if someone would like to copy an invention or manufacture something similar, of another inventor in another country, even though he or she will be prohibited to apply for a patent due to the fact that he/she is not the inventor themselves, the person can perform an infringement search through the USA Patent Office. And, if no USA patent exists for that invention, that person may manufacture and trade with that invention.