Patents

I love patents.  Well, in actuality, it’s not the actual patents.  It is the function they serve that I love.  My ultimate career goal is to be a fashion designer. (I know, I know, what am I doing in Engineering?)  But upon the creation of an article of clothing, it is my design.  And as the creator, I get to physically claim it with a tag or label sewn into the back collar.  But what if my ultimate career goal were to create an article of technology? How would I claim this work, unable to sew in a tag or label, and realize the financial benefits from said invention?

Patents enable inventors to officially claim these works of technology and the royalties that ensue.  They create ownership over shared items, which in turn, allow all of society to benefit.  In exchange, members of society usually pay the holder of the patent for the use of these shared items.  In the end, a remarkable circle of benefits is created—inventors get the needed incentive to invent and society is bettered by the product of their work.  

However, intellectual property is getting more difficult to define.  In order to lay claim, one must first be able to explicitly define the idea or invention at hand, which is one area where patents can be difficult.  Furthermore, a patent database, so to speak, has failed to keep speed with the technology the patents are protecting.  It is often difficult to figure out if an idea is patented, and if so, what are the exact boundaries?  Commonly, inventions could be altered in order to sidestep the jurisdictions of a patent.  But this is a difficult task if those jurisdictions are difficult, or even impossible, to find.