What is a Patent?

A patent is a legal document protecting new inventions. It gives inventors sole rights to their inventions for up to 20 years to determine who can and who cannot use their inventions commercially. A patent owner is therefore placed in a strong position in the marketplace and is rewarded for his or her innovation.

Just about every country in the world recognizes and protects innovation by offering inventors protection for their inventions through the patents system. Inventions protected by patents are ultimately enforceable through the courts where if a third party is deemed to be an infringer, the court may issue an injunction stopping further infringement, destruction of the offending items and the means to make the infringing items. In many cases the courts will also order the infringer to recompense the patent owner for any lost profits or reduced sales.

What is Patentable?

A patent is such a powerful document that it is only granted for true inventions. A patentable invention is one, which is new, inventive, and able to be applied industrially.

To be considered new the invention must offer to the public, when its period of protection expires, elements that have not previously been known before and which contribute to our body of existing knowledge.
To be inventive the invention must be contain something that is non-obvious to someone who has knowledge in the technical field of the invention.
To be industrially applicable the invention must be of practical use.

Exclusions from patentability

Not all inventions are patentable. In most countries patents cannot be gained for mathematical formulations, scientific theories, natural substances or to schemes and plans. Many countries also have specific exclusions to methods of medical treatment or to mere discoveries.

Please be aware that while patents are not granted for the trivial or obvious, the majority of patents that are granted are to improvements to existing products or processes that provide advantages not previously available. There are very few inventions that are ground breaking and the majority of patents that are granted can be classified as improvement Patents.