PATENT

Introduction

A Patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.

The procedure for granting patents, the requirements placed on the patentee and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international agreements. Typically, however, a patent application must include one or more claims defining the invention which must be new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable. In many countries, certain subject areas are excluded from patents, such as business methods and mental acts. The exclusive right granted to a patentee in most countries is the right to prevent or exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing the invention.

Patent usually refers to a right granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. The additional qualification utility patents is used in countries such as the United States to distinguish them from other types of patents but should not be confused with utility models granted by other countries. Examples of particular species of patents for inventions include biological patents, business method patents, chemical patents and software patents. Some other types of intellectual property rights are referred to as patents in some jurisdictions: industrial design rights are called design patents in some jurisdictions (they protect the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian), plant breeders' rights are sometimes called plant patents, and utility models are sometimes called petty patents or innovation patents.

Not Patentable

1. An invention contrary to laws of nature like gravitational force etc. 2. An invention contrary to laws of laws of public health & morality like toxic drugs. 3. Mere discovery of scientific principles or abstract theories. 4. Mere discovery of any new property or new use for known substance or mere use of known process or machine. 5. Substance obtained by mere ad mixture no new product. 6. Mere arrangement or rearrangement of known devices working independently. 7. A method for agriculture & horticulture 8. A mathematical or business method or a computer program. 9. More scheme or rule or method of performing mental act or method of playing game. 10. Method of treatment of animal or human beings. 11. An invention relating to traditional knowledge. (traditional drugs) 12. An invention relating to atomic energy.

An invention if already known to public or is in use is not patentable An invention if already patented anywhere in world is not patentable. If any patent application has been filed prior than your application for the same invention.

Who can own a patent? The owner can be the inventor, the inventors employer or someone else who has got the patent rights. If you made your invention while employed by someone else, even if it was in your own time, ask a lawyer to check your employment circumstances carefully as your employer may have some rights to your invention. What kind of things do patents cover? Patents generally cover products or processes that contain new functional or technical aspects. They are concerned with: how things work; how they are made; or what they are made of.

Is a patent the best way to protect your invention? Applying for and renewing a patent can be expensive and take a long time. Before applying for a patent you need to consider how commercially successful your invention is likely to be and how quickly you will be able to get it on the market. You should also think about the likely costs of developing, manufacturing and marketing your invention. It may be worth considering one or more of the other ways of protecting your invention mentioned in the next column. However, being granted a patent creates an intellectual property right which you can sell, market yourself or lease to others and collect royalties although it does not mean your invention will automatically be commercially successful.