Introduction
This is an overview of the law of patents
in the UK. It is aimed at businesses.
If you want...
- A general overview of intellectual property rights, see: Intellectual property: IMPACT guide to the essentials
- A guide to intellectual property disputes, see: Intellectual property disputes: IMPACT guide to the essentials
A patent is a monopoly right to the exclusive use of an invention. A patent can last for up to twenty years from the date it is filed. However, in return for the monopoly the Patent Office make the design available for public inspection.
You should not, however, disclose the invention to others until after you have applied for registration. If you do so, other than in confidence, you risk invalidating any patent that you later obtain.
Patents protect inventions
To be patentable, your invention must be:
- New; and
- Not obvious to a person of ordinary skill experienced in the industry; and
- Relate to the construction or manufacture of a substance or article; or
- Relate to a type of process.
However, there are some exclusions, including
- Computer programs (protected by copyright)
- Mathematical methods
- Business schemes
- Mental acts
Mere ideas are not patentable, nor protectable in any way whether by copyright, designs or trade mark registrations.
Patents are therefore concerned with, for example, how things work, what they do, how they do it, what they are made of or how they are made. The vast majority of patents are for incremental improvements in known technology - evolution rather than revolution.
What rights does a patent give?
The owner of a patent has the exclusive right to use the patent and to take legal action to prevent others exploiting the invention without the owner’s consent.
In many cases, the mere existence of a patent may be enough to deter a would-be infringer.
Getting a patent
The patent process can be split into three stages
- Searching - to determine if someone else has already made the invention.
- Filing - preparing the specification and applying to the Patent Office.
- Prosecution - dealing with the application through to the grant of the patent.
Timing
It is vital to file the application as soon as possible once it’s ready as this will establish your "priority" where someone else later files an application for the same patent i.e. it is “first come, first served”.
Territory
A UK patent has effect only in the United Kingdom. However, the filing date of a UK application can act as a "priority" date for filing foreign applications if made within twelve months.
Exploitation of a patent
Registering a patent puts your invention in the public domain and restricts others from copying or using it.
In some cases there may be good commercial reasons for not wanting to apply for a patent – for instance, to prevent a process from being revealed in the public domain. However, should you manage to keep your invention secret and someone else has the same invention and patents it, you may only have a defence to infringement if you have good evidence of using your invention before their patent application.
Should your secret leak out, however, you may not be able to protect that information and you may lose certain rights (see section on confidentiality below).
Alternatively, voluntary publication of your invention might stop others from obtaining a valid patent on the same invention, but will not prevent others from copying it.
If you do obtain a patent then you can sell or license it just like any other item of property.
Patents are a valuable information resource
There are patents numbering in the tens of millions worldwide. This represents a vast sea of information and could be an invaluable database for your research. In many cases, patents are the earliest or only disclosure of technical information.
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