Patent

A legal right granted by the government that gives an inventor exclusive rights to make, use, and sell an invention for a fixed period, typically 20 years in the UK.

Patents protect product innovations from being copied by competitors. They can also be licensed to others for royalties or used as leverage in investment and acquisition negotiations.

A founder invents a novel self-closing bag design. She patents it before going to market, preventing competitors from copying the mechanism for 20 years.