Patents and Patent application. How to File a Patent Patents and Patent application.

What is a Patent? A patent is granted by the government to the inventor, giving the inventor the right for a limited period to stop others from making, using or selling their invention without permission. A patent makes the invention the property of the inventor and like any other property or asset, it can be bought, sold, rented or hired. A patent is a territorial right; a UK Patent only gives the holder rights within the UK and rights to stop others importing the patented products into the UK. Though a UK application can set a ‘priority date’ for overseas applications.

What Do I Get? The right to prevent unlicensed manufacture, use, importation or sale of the patented invention. The right to let a person or company use it, to exploit the invention and pay royalties under a licensing agreement. The right to take legal action against others infringing the invention and to claim damages. A deterrent against potential infringers. However: The Patents Act 1977 allows anyone to comment on the patentability of an invention that has been published but not yet granted. Once granted a patent is not guaranteed as valid. Anyone can apply to the court or the Patent Office for "revocation" of a patent. If they succeed, the patent must be revoked or amended if possible. The Patent Office does not give financial assistance.

What is Covered? Patents cover products & processes with new functional or technical aspects. Patents deal with how things work, what they do, how they do it, what they are made of and how they are made. The invention must be: NEW: never made public in any way, anywhere, before the date an application for a patent is filed. INVENTIVE: compared with what is already known, it will not be obvious to someone with knowledge and experience of the subject. APPLICABLE: capable of manufacture or use by an industry. A product, device, process or new material as opposed to a purely intellectual device.

*These may be protected by copyright laws. What is Excluded? Non patentable inventions include: Discoveries e.g. A new animal or plant variety. Scientific Theories Mathematical Methods Aesthetic Creations* (literary & artistic Works) Presentation of information Computer Programs* Methods or schemes for games, performing mental acts or doing business. Methods of surgery, therapy or diagnosis. *These may be protected by copyright laws.

Public Disclosure If you may apply for a patent never publicly disclose the invention before you file an application. This can be counted as prior publication of your invention. An application must be filed before any public disclosure is made. Any type of disclosure (including word of mouth, demonstration, advertisement or an article in a journal), by you or anyone acting for you, could prevent you getting a patent. It could also be a reason for having the patent revoked in the future. It is essential that you make any disclosure under conditions of strict confidence.

When to file and Application? Filing your application early on can be vital to establish "priority" for you over anyone else subsequently filing an application for the same invention. However, if you file early you may change your invention and then have to re-file your application. There are often important commercial reasons for delaying filing until absolutely necessary. Such as when the prototype is actually made and ready to be put on the market. This concerns the longevity of the patent. It is desirable to contact a patent agent as soon as possible.

Patent Searches A patent must be new, if the idea is published anywhere in the world before filing then this will invalidate rights. Many firms offer search services to assess patent prospects. Ensure the search is comprehensive and covers all published prior art. Compare the cost and thoroughness of the search with that provided by the UK Patent Office itself. Flat rate searches of £150 can be initiated through http://www.patentadvice.org/

Details of the Application Procedure

Application A UK patent application is based on a legal document called a specification the contents of which determine whether a patent is granted. Two copies are sent to the patent office typed on single sided plain white A4 with a Patents Form 1/77 "Request for Grant of a Patent". It is advisable to employ a registered patent agent who will have the necessary technical and legal skills to prepare the specification. This makes achieving commercial success much easier. A patent specification should include drawings to help describe the invention and a full description of your invention. You must put all the necessary information about your invention in the description. You cannot change your specification once you have filed your application. You may include claims and an abstract or these may be sent later, but they must not add information to that originally supplied if sent later.

The Description The description must explain your invention fully as information cannot be added later. A patent will not be granted if it does not contain enough information to enable others to carry out your invention. Begin with a short title indicating the general subject of your invention, it should not include your name, a Trade Mark, or the words "patent" and "etc.". It shouldn’t reveal key details of the invention. The description should set out the background of the invention and then explain a particular problem the invention solves, and what it does. Then the essential and important features of your invention should be set out. The rest of the description describes, with reference to any drawings, particular examples of how the invention may be performed. Drawings make the invention clearer. The drawings must be on separate sheets to the text and introduced with a few words indicating what each illustrates. Leave margins of at least 2.5cm at the left-hand side and at least 2.0cm at the other edges. Join the pages at the top left-hand corner by stapling. Number the pages of text 1, 2, 3 etc.

The Drawings The drawings must consist of black, well-defined lines so that good photocopies can be taken. Use margins of at least 2.5cm at the top and left-hand side, 1.5cm at the right and 1.0cm at the bottom. Each sheet may contain several figures each labelled clearly as "Figure 1", "Figure 2" etc. Number the sheets in order at the top middle, indicating the total number of sheets of drawings, e.g. "1/1 for a single sheet, "1/3", "2/3", "3/3“ for three. Indicate specific features using reference numbers and/or letters, joined to the feature by a continuous line. Use the references in the description to refer to the features. The same references must refer to the same feature throughout. Do not use coloured paper, ink or pencil, excessive shading, fold the drawings or write descriptive text. Do not draw a frame to indicate the margins. Do not put anything in the margins or use "engineering" borders or use "engineering" drawings showing materials and/or dimensions.

Claims A claim is a precise statement of the invention you want to protect. Your first claim must define the invention by setting out its distinctive technical features. Do not include any technical feature in your first claim that is not essential to your invention or use terms that are too restrictive. Subsidiary features may be set out in "dependent claims"; these can refer to one or more previous claims. Begin each claim on a separate sheet, preferably headed "CLAIMS“, number them in order beginning with claim 1. Leave margins of 2.5cm at the left-hand side and 2.0cm at the other edges. Number the pages of claims in order, to follow on from the pages of the description. A claim should not contain any statements relating to commercial or other advantages or other non-technical aspects. It should not have a full stop in the middle as this will make it unclear. It should not contain anything not referred to in your description.

The Abstract Your application is published by the Patent Office about 18 months after filing. The front page of the document includes a short summary, called an abstract, which you must provide. The abstract is a brief summary, no more than 150 words, of your invention including all the most important technical features of the invention. It is useful to the Patent Office and to the public searching in the particular technical field of the application. Head your abstract page "ABSTRACT“ and give the abstract a title, which may be the same as the title of your description. Start your abstract with the most important features. You may wish to refer to some of the subsidiary features you have mentioned in the description. Suggest in writing, below the abstract, which figure you think goes best with the abstract to illustrate your invention. The Patent Office may edit your abstract.

Overseas Applications A UK patent application can establish a priority date for patent applications overseas filed within 12 months of the original patent application. A UK resident wishing to apply for a patent abroad must have permission from the UK Patent Office unless they have applied for a patent for the same invention in the UK at least six weeks earlier. If the overseas application is identical to the UK application then the earlier date should be supported and the same considerations will apply as for the UK application; disclosures made in the intervening time should not matter. If the new application contains information further to that in the original UK application then the initial document can be used to establish priority if a new application including the new material was filed within 12 months of the initial application .

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