Which of the following enables an inventor to legally enforce his right to exclude others from using his invention?

An artistic license governs the use and distribution of creative or software works, not patentable inventions.

Phishing is a social engineering attack technique used to deceive users into revealing sensitive credentials or information, and has no relation to intellectual property rights.

Spam refers to unsolicited bulk electronic messages sent over the internet and is entirely unrelated to protecting an inventor's legal rights.

A patent is a form of intellectual property protection granted by a government authority that gives the inventor the exclusive legal right to exclude others from making, using, importing, or selling the invention for a defined period, typically 20 years from the filing date. This exclusivity is the core purpose of the patent system, providing inventors with a statutory mechanism to commercially exploit and defend their inventions. Without a patent, an inventor has no legal basis to prevent competitors from copying or using the invention.