Patent is the official legal right of an individual or company to make, use or sell an invention for a particular number of years, most often 20 years. Patent could be sold (transfer of entire legal right) or licensed (granting of partial or entire legal right to the other subjects for a limited amount of time).
Patents of one country are primarily recognized in the country of origin, but there could be mutual respect between different countries in regards to the issued patents, as well as simplified process on getting a patent in another country based on the existence of the same patent in the country of origin.