Patent Law

Know the Basics of Patent Law

A patent is defined as a set of exclusive rights, as granted by the state, to an inventor or creator, or his or her “assignee”, for a pre-determined length of time, in exchange for the full disclosure of his or her invention.

Patent Law, then, is the field of law directly pertaining to the ownership, use, marketing, lending, and licensing of any patented creation, or the patent itself.

Exclusive rights, in most countries, usually include the right to be the sole creator, seller, marketer, importer, or offerer of a patented item. This doesn’t necessarily restrict the creation or use of the item only to the inventor, but rather, allows the inventor to have some degree of control on who, exactly, is allowed to do any of the above.

For example, a plant breeder might invent a new strain of fern. That they have the right to exclusivity means that, if, say, a commercial garden centre wants to breed and sell that strain of fern, they first need some form of official permission from the plant breeder. This would fall under licensing or lending. In most cases, the original plant breeder would probably earn a percentage and/or a flat fee for use of their unique breed of fern. In many cases, licensing or lending can be done by verbal agreement, but in the event a lawsuit, verbal agreements don’t really hold up, and so, most patent licensing and lending is agreed upon in writing.

When we hear the word “invention” or “inventor”, we usually think of something involving a laboratory and a newfangled mechanical gizmo, but in patent law terms, the word “invention” is a little more broad. Invention can refer to any number of things. An invention could be something like a new device, such as an iPod or a new type of video camera, but things like video game concepts, car parts and fruit drinks are patented all the time, as well. Basically, anything that cannot be simply copyrighted on title alone, and which needs a more complex explanation will require a patent.

In fact, because the patent library in the US is completely open to the public, fans oftentimes look through these patents to find out about things like new Star Wars movies, new video games, new toys, and so on, long before the work is actually officially announced.

In most countries with patent laws, a patent can belong to either an individual, or a corporate entity. In this way, a property can belong to say, General Motors or Paramount Pictures, rather than to an individual creator.

How to Patent

A patent is obtained through, first, filing a written application with the appropriate patent office (for example, plant breeders and engine designers usually have to apply to separate offices). The application needs to contain a description of the invention, including an explanation of the usefulness of the invention, if that usefulness is not self-evident.

Comprehensive instructions on how a person with the appropriate skills can create and use the invention will be included. This can include blueprints, and is usually accompanied by illustrations.

Not all patents are granted. In order for a patent to take legal effect, the application has to meet certain requirements of “patentability”. Some of these requirements are as follows:

The invention must be of patentable subject matter. Meaning the type of subject matter that is eligible for protection by patent law.

The invention must be novel, or new, in some way. An invention can be a revision of a previous revision, but it must be substantial enough of a reinvention to be considered its own entity.

The invention must be useful, or else applicable to industrial application, in some practical, realistic way. Useful can be somewhat broad, of course, as something like a rubber fly in an ice cube isn’t exactly useful in any necessary sense, but can be technically useful in getting a laugh out of friends, and there is a patent on that product, nonetheless.

Rejected Patents

In some events, a patent will not be granted once the patent office has examined the invention and made its final judgements. In these events, the office will generally communicate with either the applicant, or the applicant’s patent attorney or agent, and inform them of exactly why the patent was rejected.

In such an event, the applicant is then free to adjust or improve the invention to be patentable, and reapply.

Prototypes

In most countries supporting patent law, a prototype is actually not required to even exist before a patent is granted. However, in all cases, the concept must have been seen through at least to the final, or near final planning stages. The patent office needs a comprehensive, thorough idea of what, exactly, the invention is, what it does, how to build it, and how to use it.