DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT PATENTS? HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED ABOUT PATENTS AND WHAT TO DO TO PREVENT SOMEONE ELSE STEALING YOUR IDEA OR INVENTION? THE ANSWERS TO SOME COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT PATENTS ARE HERE.
How to and Why You must get a Patent
Your Introduction To Patents
Invented something?.....
Many people dream of inventing something unique and marketable. Some people spend most of their lives putting to paper their ideas and designing prototypes of their imagined invention and testing out various processes. Some do it in their spare time others devote all of their time and develop careers as inventors. Either way, people come up with distinctive and useful inventions.
Every time someone invents something new, they want to and they should enjoy the full fruits of their labor. To ensure the person can make the maximum commercial use of their invention, the inventor can apply for and be given an exclusive right called a 'PATENT' over the product or the process by which the product can be made. During the period of the existence of patent, no one can make the patented product, and/or use the process without paying a licensing fee or a royalty to the inventor.
Are there guidelines for patents?
Generally, the duration of a patent, degree of control over the patented product or service, as well as exclusivity of the patent, are defined by the law of the country the patent has been applied for in. The World Intellectual Property Organization has defined certain guidelines and all the countries that have signed the WIPO declarations have to ensure patent laws of the country must be in cohesion to each other, and the countries show respect to the patent granted by other countries.
What does ‘patent’ actually mean?
A common misconception has been that when an invention is patented there is not a right to use what the inventor has invented. In actual fact the patent is a special right which restricts the ability of other people to use, produce, sell (or offer for free) as well as export or import the product. This means the inventor has an absolute control over his product and the way it is sold. If anyone wants to produce the patented product, they would have to pay the inventor.
In most countries, the duration of a patent is 20 years from the date of filing. In some cases, the patent holder would have to start paying patent fees to the patent office during these 20 years as well to avoid a premature revoking of the patent restrictions. Each country has different procedures and in Australia, for example, the patent fee is levied from the fifth year onwards of the life of that patent.
Are there different types of patents?
There are a variety of inventions that can be patented. There are differences between the ways that a patent can protect. Design patents protect the way an article looks and is presented, a utility patent protects the way an article can be used and how it works. Sometimes these patents are inseparable from the article particularly if the article relies on both its way of use and how it appears.
Intellectual property is another area for patents. Whatever someone can think, or put together in their mind differently to others is intellectual property. It can be categorized into industrial property which includes trademarks, inventions, geographical indication of an undiscovered place, and industrial designs. A second area is the area of Copyright. Here we include artistic and literary works like poems, novels, plays, films, drama, serials, musical works, drawings, photographs, paintings, sculptures, designs of architecture, and so on.
Do countries differ in the nature of what is patented?
There are many other differences in the nature of what can be patented which apply in different countries. In United States, for example, even a research can be patented. This means any invention, in the area of patented research, if done by someone other than the holder of research patent would, by itself, be a breach of the patent. On the other hand, the Australian law allows the researchers to freely develop a patented product, provided substantial changes are made to the original work.
Is breaching a patent the same in every country?
In most countries around the world, the breach of a patent is considered a civil wrong. Some countries take patent breaches more seriously and there are countries, like Austria and France, where a deliberate breach of patent restriction is also considered a criminal offence, in certain cases.
How Can Patent Law Help You?
The exclusive right granted to a patentee in most countries is the right to prevent or exclude others from making, importing the invention, using, selling for 20 years after the date of filling the application. Patent law provides exclusive rights to a patentee granted by that country, for a fixed period of time, in exchange of a disclosure of his invention. The procedure for granting patents and the extent of exclusive rights vary widely from country to country.
What is involved in getting a patent?
A patent is requested by filing a written application at the patent office of the area in your country. The application contains the description of how to make and use the invention. The patent application must also comprise "claims", because claims define the invention for which the applicant seeks patent rights. An application for the patent must include one or more claims defining the invention which must be inventive, new, and commercially applicable. But, it needs to be understood that patent is not a right to practice or use that invention, for which the patent is sought.
It is more valuable to obtain claims that include the minimal set of limitations that differentiate an invention over what came before. Some countries have sanctions to prevent the same validity questions being re-litigated. To exclude someone from using a patented invention in a court, the patent owner needs to prove what the other person is using falls within the scope of his patent rights.
If I have a patent what does that mean legally?
Like any other property right, it may be sold, licensed, mortgaged, assigned or transferred, given away, or simply abandoned. Patents can be imposed through lawsuits. The patent owner may ask for adequate compensation for any infringement made in the past. But the patent owner has to establish first that the accused infringer is practicing all the requirements of claimed patent. Both natural persons and corporate entities may apply for a patent. The entity or entities become the owners of patent when it is granted to them.
The grant and enforcement of patents laws are governed by national laws. Up to an extent, patents laws of a country are also governed by some international treaties. Hence, it can be said patents laws are territorial in nature. A nation forms a patent office for governing that nation's patent system according to the relevant patent laws.
The grounds to declare any patent invalid are set out in the relevant patent legislation, and may differ in various countries. An infringer can rely on the available ground of invalidity. In short, patent law is of much importance in the world.
Why get a patent?
The main reason cited for the grant of 'patent' is to ensure people get an incentive to work and research. When their efforts pay off, they can finally enjoy the returns of their work, in complete peace and without worry that their idea, product, process, and so on, could be stolen and or marketed by others.