Module 4

Patents: the bargain, patentable subject matter, novelty, inventive step, the application and claims, infringement, defences and international filing

A patent is a bargain. The inventor tells the world how the invention works, and in return the state gives a monopoly of limited length over it, usually twenty years. The public gets the knowledge now and the free use of it later. Patents are the most demanding of the IP rights: they must be applied for, examined, granted and paid for each year, and they are granted only for inventions that are new, not obvious and useful. They are also the most territorial and the most valuable in some industries, such as medicines, machines and electronics. This module sets out what can be patented, the tests, how claims work, how an application proceeds, what amounts to infringement and the main defences.

General education on intellectual property law, using invented businesses, people and figures. It states common principles in simplified form and does not describe any one country’s law, which differs and changes; rules on registration, ownership, infringement and remedies are strict and local. It is not legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer in the place that matters.