Patent Basics

What is a Patent?

A Patent is a legal monopoly giving the inventor of a novel device or process (or his employer) the right to stop third parties from making, selling, importing or otherwise using the invention without permission. Patents are territorial and the present procedures sheet relates to Patents outside the United Kingdom. The procedure for securing grant of a non-UK Patent can be broadly divided into four stages - filing, search, publication and prosecution.

Patentability Of Inventions

For an invention to be patentable it must be both novel and not obvious at the time a patent application is filed having regard to what is known, published or used anywhere throughout the world. Assuming your invention is patentable then, in order to protect your invention it is necessary to file and obtain a granted patent in the country in which you wish to protect the invention. This note concentrates on the United Kingdom procedures but many countries follow a similar pattern.

Keep it confidential

Prior to filing any patent application to protect your invention, you must be careful not to disclose your invention to anyone, other than with a confidentiality agreement in place. The confidentiality agreement must be in place before you make the disclosure to a third party. We can advise you on these matters and can draw up the appropriate confidentiality agreements for you. Once the patent application has been filed, you will have prior rights in the UK over subsequently filed patent applications made by third parties, and you can then disclose your invention to others without invalidating the patent application. Similarly any improvements or developments you wish to protect later can be included in follow-up patent applications, but these must be filed before the improvements are disclosed to anyone.

Prior Published Documents

If an invention that is the same as yours has been disclosed by others in any document that is published anywhere throughout the world prior to you filing your patent application, this may invalidate your application, or render your invention obvious in the light of such prior published documents.

Searches before filing

It is possible to conduct an initial pre-filing search to assess the scope of possible protection before we start work on drafting any application. Such an initial search would cost between £200 and £500 or more depending on complexity. If you would like us to carry out such a search, please let us have your instructions in writing. On the other hand, you may prefer to leave the searching to the Patent Office after an application has been filed. Click here to request us to do a search for you.

Instructions to File

Once you have decided to file a patent application, it is important to proceed as quickly as possible. We normally expect to send you a draft specification for approval within days of receiving a written description and instructions from you. Once you approve the specification, we will file the application at the Patent Office without delay. To reduce unnecessary costs to you at the outset, we recommend that you supply us with a brief written description of your invention and drawings or photographs and a brief note as to why you think your invention is new and what advantage it has compared to what has been done before.

Click Here. If you wish us to file a patent application for you on the your invention

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Crazy Inventions

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3) Clever talking Ginger Cat (see page 3 line 74 to Page 4 line 76)

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