Info about Patents
Requirements for filing Patents
Patents are protection given by government to the inventor to ensure that others do not use his or her idea without giving the inventor their due for a specified period of time. Given the exclusive rights that the inventor gets legally on the patent, it is important that the invention meets certain requirements. These requirements are quite stringent given the implication of a patent for the inventor as well as for the rest of the society.
When you invent any solution, you need to go through an elaborate process to patent it. The first thing though is to satisfy the requirements. If your application does not meet the basic patent filing requirements, it will not be processed. Here are the important requirements for the same:
• Filing Statutory Class: Your invention must be from one of the following categories only.
o Processes: If you are improving or just creating a new process for any particular function in any domain you can file a patent for that.
o Machines: If you invented a new machine to create better products or same products faster or help in getting things done quickly, or something similar then you can file a patent for that.
o Manufactured Items: If you have any product made by humans or machines that is unique or different then you can patent that.
o Composition of matter: If you find a different matter composition that has some utility in the society that can be patented too.
o New Use of above mentioned classes: In this category you need not invent something new from the scratch, even if you have any existing invention and are able to use it for a novel use then this idea too can be patented.
• Utility: The invention needs to have a good utility value. There are many inventions in academics and industry that are in the theoretical proof stage. Depending on further studies, these theories can spawn a whole bunch of patentable innovations in the above mentioned statutory categories. Hence such theoretical thesis cannot be patented.
• Novelty: The invention must be new and unique. It cannot be something that has already been invented and is in use. Many times it could come down to who files the patent first too. Sometimes two people come out with similar inventions which are not yet patented, then the person filing it first typically gets the patent.
• Non-obvious: This is a very important requirement for any invention that needs to be patented. The condition of non obvious is also a grey area where many patent disputes arise. One of the classes in patents is new use of other classes. Now there can be some intended uses and some others which general public may come up with. For example, if you invented the screw driver for tightening screws, some people may use it for digging up dirt in their gardens too. Now that does not make it a novel invention from your side.
If you invention fulfils all these categories you can file for a patent. The process just begins at this point, after this there are many other stages, but this is the first step.