Question: A patent is a legal property that allows its holder to prevent others from employing this property for their own use for a specified period of time. A patent protects an invention and is valid for up to 20 years from the date of filing a patent application. Research patents and the patent application process. (You might want to access the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Web site at [www.uspto.gov].) How many types of patents are there? What other interesting information about patents did you find? Would patents play any role in an organizations choice of competitive strategy? Explain.