Patent Law Flashcards
What is a patent?
Any technical solution of a problem in any field of human activity which is new, involves an inventive step and is industrially applicable shall be patentable. It may be, or may relate to, a product, or process, or an improvement of any of the foregoing.
What is the purpose of a patent?
The grant of a patent is to provide protection to any inventor from any patent infringement. Once an invention is disclosed to the public, only the patent holder has the exclusive right to manufacture, utilize, and market the invention
What are the three purposes of the patent law?
- Seeks to foster and reward invention
- Promotes disclosures of inventions to stimulate further innovation and to permit the public to practice the invention once the patent expires
- The stringent requirements for patent protection seek to ensure that ideas in the public domain remain there for the free use of the public
As an essential element to be patentable, what is the rule about the novelty of a patent?
An invention shall not be considered new if it forms part of a prior art.
What is prior art?
Prior art is:
1. Everything which has been made available to the public anywhere in the world, before the filing date or the priority date of the application claiming the invention.
- An application for a patent with a filing or priority date that is earlier than the filing or priority date of the application.
As an essential element to be patentable, what is the rule about inventive step?
An invention involves an inventive step if, having regard to prior art, it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of the filing date or priority date of the application claiming the invention.
As an essential element to be patentable, what is the rule about industrial applicability?
An invention that can be produced and used in any industry shall be industrially applicable.
What are the 5 non-patentable inventions?
- Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods, and in the case of drugs and medicines, the mere discovery of a new form or new property of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance, or the mere discovery of any new property or new use for a known substance, or the mere use of a known process unless such known process results in a new product that employs at least one new reactant.
- Schemes, rules and methods of performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers.
- Methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy.
- Aesthetic creations.
- Anything which is contrary to public order or morality.
Who files a patent?
The inventor or anyone authorized by the inventor.
How long is the term of a patent?
The term of a patent shall be twenty (20) years from the filing date of the application.
What is the non-obvious test?
In order for your invention to have inventive step, it must not be obvious to an expert or skilled in that field.
Are abstract ideas patentable?
No. A patent claim is not eligible for patent protection if its central concept concerns an abstract idea, such as intermediated settlement, and its method of implementation is not itself protectable.
Can laws of nature, natural phenomena or abstract ideas be patented?
The law permits patents to be issued to whoever invents or discovers any new and useful composition of matter, but laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are basic tools of scientific and technological framework which lies beyond the domain of patent protection.
What is the rule regarding the registration of patent on a foreign country and registration of patent here in the Philippines?
Both the US and the Philippines are signatories to the Paris Convention, which means that an applicant who has filed a patent application in the US may have a right of priority over the same invention in a patent application in the Philippines. But it does not mean that this right of priority immediately entitles a patent applicant the grant of patent. A right of priority is not equivalent to a patent.
What are the two tests to determine patent infringement?
- Literal Infringement - Resort must be had, in the first instance, to the words of the claim. If accused matter clearly falls within the claim, infringement is made out and that is end of it. To determine whether the particular item falls within the literal meaning of the patent claims, the court must juxtapose the claims of the patent and the accused product within the overall context of the claims and specifications, to determine whether there is exact identity of all material elements.
- Doctrine of Equivalents - An infringement also occurs when a device appropriates a prior invention by incorporating its innovative concept and, albeit with some modification and change, performs substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the same result.
