The United States has its fair share of problems, but if there’s one thing that our country got right, it’s our system of rewarding and incentivizing American inventors. Patents are a powerful lever in this system; a metaphorical flag in the ground that protects inventors' rights to their inventions for up to 20 years.Patents encourage and protect inventions, granting the inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing the invention. Should the invention do well in the public market, the inventor gets the entire piece of the pie. Patents are one of the strongest defenses against dupes, copycats, and counterfeits, but to get this protection, inventors must reveal their invention's details in the patent application, making their "secret recipe" public for all to see.Patents are not as prevalent in the beauty industry as in other sectors like pharmaceuticals and technology. The beauty industry often prioritizes speed to market and trends, which can be at odds with the lengthy patent application process (on average two to three years). Additionally, the relatively short lifespan of many beauty products and trends may not justify the time and financial investment required to secure a patent—and that’s only if the products meet the strict criteria for patentability, such as novelty and nonobviousness.Many beauty brands claim to develop innovative products, but true innovation in the beauty industry can only be proven by obtaining a patent.