The Intellectual Property Forum

A question about what is protected in a patent.

What can be protected in a patent? If you describe uses and application in the description of the invention in the patent but then don't specifically include then in the claims of the patent, are those uses and applications have any measure of protection?  Can someone use your invention without your permission for a use you describe in the patent but do not specifically mention in the Claims?    Can someone else write a patent for uses and/or application identified in your invention description but not specifically repeated in your claims? 

This could just be poor patent writing.  If it is truly problematic, is it possible to modify/revise your existing patent to add claims that are clearly discussed in the rest of the patent filing? 

We have an issue where someone has filed a patent for an "invention" that is clearly discussed in our patent but not specifically in the claims -- and it is use/application that we are preparing to exploit.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments on this.