What rights does patent ownership provide?

Patent ownership gives the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing into the United States the invention claimed in the patent. This is stated in 35 U.S.C. 154(a)(1).

However, ownership does not necessarily give the owner the right to make, use, sell or import the invention, as there may be other legal considerations such as:

• Existence of another patent owner with a dominant patent
• Failure to obtain FDA approval
• An injunction by a court
• National security issues