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A patent is a temporary monopoly governments grant inventors to
control the production, use, and sale of their invention. In exchange
for this monopoly, inventors have to describe their invention well
enough that others can copy it after the patent expires. Most patents
last a decade or more; in the United States, the longest-lived patents last
twenty years.
Governments grant patents to encourage innovation. Where and when patent laws have been weak, inventors are discouraged from creating new things, as anybody can steal the results of their labor. Many governments allow living things to be patented, and have for a long time. In the United States, the Patent Office granted its first plant patent for a rose in 1931. Patents on plants and animals have encouraged breeders to develop better breeds. In many countries, individual genes can be patented as well, if the gene's discoverer can describe what it does. Many people in the biotechnology industry believe this is a bad idea. They see nothing wrong with people patenting genes they invent through deliberate mutation, but they don't like people patenting genes they just find. However, many companies feel forced to "defensively" patent genes they discover, lest their competitors patent the gene and then deny them use of it.
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