Employment and Labor Relations Law Glossary Terms

Patents protect inventions and improvements to existing inventions. A patent grants an inventor permission to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling their invention in the United States or importing their invention into the United States. There are three types of patents: utility, design, and plant. Typically, utility and plant patent last 20 years from filing and design patents have a term of 14 years. A utility patent will expire during its term unless appropriate maintenance fees are timely paid. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues patents but the owner has to enforce the patent without the help of the USPTO. Patents are issued and enforced by country.

The party (individual) or entity who starts a lawsuit against another party (the defendant) in a court of law.

Characteristics that lawmakers have specifically protected from discrimination. The characteristics most often considered protected are age; race and color; national origin; sex, pregnancy; disability; religion, veteran status and disability. Some states and cities have further created protection against sexual discrimination to include protection against sexual orientation discrimination.