Detailed overview of patents 1

Question 1

Patent term

Answer 1

20 years from filing date.

Question 2

Patent as an exclusive right

Answer 2

• right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale or selling the invention.. or importing into country where it is protected.
• allows owner to say who cannot use the invention protected…

Question 3

Infringer

Answer 3

• Anyone who is not the patent owner nor licensed by owner who manufactures, uses, imports, offers for sale or sells a product or performs a process covered by the patent
• can be sued in court to force them to stop the infringement and pay the owner damages.

Question 4

Patent as a territorial right

Answer 4

• Have effect only in countries where they have been applied for and granted.
• Each country has sovereign right to grant or refuse to grant a patent.

Question 5

Why is IP an asset?

Answer 5

IP is often the result of investment, is owned and may generate income.

Question 6

Patent claims

Answer 6

• sets of sentences that define the invention being protected

Question 7

Prior art

Answer 7

knowledge available to the public at the time of filing the patent application

Question 8

Substantive examination systems

Answer 8

• patent application is thoroughly reviewed by government employed patent examiner.
• examiner compares related prior art against the application’s claims to determine whether invention provides legally sufficient advancement of that art.

Question 9

Registration systems

Answer 9

-patent granted once formalities have been completed without substantive examination.
- Validity of patent in view of prior art is not assessed until or unless challenged in court.

Question 10

Patent Validity

Answer 10

–> once granted and not successfully challenged in court or before the relevant patent office.

Question 11

Patent invalidity

Answer 11

–> when rejected or cancelled because invention is not new in view of prior art or for other reasons.

Question 12

Utility patents

Answer 12

• “patents of invention”

Question 13

Utility model registrations

Answer 13

• innovation patents
• utility innovations or short-term patents
• stringent registration requirements; typically sought for innovations of incremental nature (may not demonstrate necessary inventive step)
• shorter terms than patents

Question 14

When a claim “reads on” prior art..

Answer 14

• there is prior art that discloses subject matter that anticipates the content of the claim.