letters patent

Examples of letters patent in the following topics:

• English Administration of the Colonies

  • Charter governments were political corporations created by letters patent, giving the grantees control of the land and the powers of legislative government.

• The Process of Incorporation

  • The articles of incorporation (also called a charter, certificate of incorporation or letters patent) are filed with the appropriate state office, listing the purpose of the corporation, its principal place of business and the number and type of shares of stock.

• Brand Ownership

  • A brand owner may seek to protect proprietary rights in relation to a brand by registering the trademark such that it becomes a "Registered Trademark. " Also, a firm or licensor can also grant the right to use their brand name, patents or sales knowledge in exchange for some form of payment.
  • This symbol is designated by ® (the circled capital letter "R")

• Patents

  • There are three types of patents.
  • A U.S. patent currently lasts 20 years.
  • The value of a patent that a company would record on its books depends on how it acquired the patent.
  • If the business purchased the patent from the original holder, the value of the patent equals the acquisition cost.
  • The value of the patent may be increased if a patent holding company defends its rights to the invention in a lawsuit.

• Patents

  • But a patent is a blanket injunction against implementing a certain idea.
  • (For example, RedHat has pledged that open source projects are safe from its patents, see redhat.com/legal/patent_policy.html.)
  • The patents are so unpredictable and so potentially broad that no card manufacturer can ever be certain it's safe, even after doing a patent search.
  • Grant of Patent License.
  • I've also written a blog post summarizing the arguments against software patents, at www.rants.org/2007/05/01/how-to-tell-that-software-patents-are-a-bad-idea/.

• Legal Barriers

  • The government creates legal barriers through patents, copyrights, and granting exclusive rights to companies.
  • Intellectual property rights, including copyright and patents, are an important example of legal barriers that give rise to monopolies.
  • During the term of the patent, the patent holder has the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the patented invention.
  • When a patent expires and the invention enters the public domain, others can build on the invention.
  • For example, when a pharmaceutical company first markets a drug, it is usually under a patent, and only the pharmaceutical company can sell it until the patent expires.

• Amortization of Intangible Assets

  • See the figure below for an example of a U.S. patent .
  • Scenario A: After 5 years Company X is sued for patent infringement and is required to hire a lawyer.
  • The patent lawyer charges $10,000 and is successful in defending Company X's patent.
  • The $10,000 spent to defend the patent is capitalized to the value of the patent on Company X's balance sheet and then amortized over the remaining 12 years of the patent's legal life.
  • As a result of the useful life of their patent being reduced from 17 years to just 5 years, the remaining unamortized value of $12,000 is expensed and the patent is written down to a value of $0.

• Limited-Life Impairment

  • A software company has a patent valued at $10 million with a useful life of 40 years.
  • Due to market conditions, the company believes the patent's value has decreased and tests it for impairment at the end of the year.
  • As a result of the impairment, the amortization expense on the patent should be adjusted to reflect the new value.
  • Limited-life intangibles are intangible assets with a limited useful life, such as copyrights, patents and trademarks
  • Examples of intangible assets with a limited-life include copyrights and patents.

• The George H.W. Bush Administration

  • Bush publicly resigned his life membership in the organization after losing the election and receiving a form letter from NRA depicting agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms as jack-booted thugs.
  • He called the NRA letter a "vicious slander on good people."
  • The treaty also restricted patents, copyrights, and trademarks, and it outlined the removal of investment restrictions among the three countries.

• The Granger Movement

  • Patents were purchased so that the Grange might manufacture its own farm machinery.
  • He saw the need for an organization that would bring people from the North and South together in a spirit of mutual cooperation and, after many letters and consultations with the other founders, the Grange was born.