Patent Rights

A.

The correct answer is A. Patent.

A patent is a form of intellectual property that provides exclusive rights to the inventor or their assignee for a fixed period of time, typically 20 years from the filing date of the patent application. The purpose of a patent is to incentivize innovation by providing inventors with a legal monopoly on the commercial use and sale of their invention for a limited time.

In exchange for obtaining a patent, the inventor must publicly disclose the details of their invention. This disclosure serves to advance the state of knowledge in the relevant field, allowing others to build upon the invention in the future.

Patents are typically granted for inventions that are new, non-obvious, and useful. They can cover a wide range of inventions, including processes, machines, compositions of matter, and designs. Once a patent is granted, the patent holder has the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing the invention without their permission.

Utility models are similar to patents, but they typically provide protection for shorter periods of time and are limited to certain types of inventions, such as small improvements to existing products. Snooping is not a form of intellectual property protection, but rather a term used to describe the unauthorized or surreptitious observation of someone's private activities or communications. Copyrights protect original works of authorship, such as books, music, and movies, but they do not cover inventions.