Patent right, referred to as "patent" for short, is an intellectual property right, which is the exclusive right of the inventor or his right holder to exploit a specific invention within a certain period of time. China promulgated the Patent Law on 1984, and the detailed rules for its implementation on 1985, which made specific provisions on related matters.
The word "patent" comes from Latin "Litterae patentes", which means open letters or open documents. It is a certificate used by medieval monarchs to issue certain privileges, and later refers to the exclusive right certificate signed by the British king himself. Patents are the largest source of technical information in the world. According to empirical statistical analysis, patents contain 90%-95% of the global scientific and technological information.