What is a patent right? Why is new knowledge a public good?

Patent right, referred to as "patent" for short, is an intellectual property right, and the inventor or his assignee enjoys the exclusive right to exploit a specific invention within a certain period of time.

The nature of patent right is mainly reflected in three aspects: exclusivity, timeliness and regionality.

I recommend reading Tian Zhikang's paper "Intellectual Property Ownership of Public Goods".