The patent application is a request pending at the patent office for grant of patent for the invention described and claimed by the application. The application consists of a description of the invention (patent specification ), together with the official form and correspondence relating to the application. The term patent application is also used to refer to the process of filing a patent application, or the patent specification itself (that is, the contents of the filed document with the intention of commencing the process of applying for a patent application). patent).
In order to obtain a patent, a person, whether legal or natural, must apply in a patent office with jurisdiction to grant a patent in a geographical area of ​​required coverage. This is often a national patent office, but may be a regional body, such as the European Patent Office. After patent specifications in accordance with the law of the office concerned, patents may be granted for the invention described and claimed by the specification.
The process of "negotiating" or "arguing" with the patent office for granting patents, and interactions with the patent office in relation to the patent after the grant, is known as patent prosecution. Patent prosecution differs from patent litigation relating to legal process for patent infringement after granted.
Video Patent application
Definisi
As Peter Prescott QC points out, the term "patent application" is unclear. It can contain two different meanings:
- The legal status of the underlying problem when a person asks the competent authority to grant him the patent and the request is still unfulfilled.
- The content of documents or documents that the person submits for the purpose of initiating the above; most clearly, the description of the invention together with at least one claim which defines it.
The first of them - the demand for legal rights to which you are entitled if your application is properly established - is an institutional fact, and is temporal by nature. Nothing soon after your app is pulled, denied, or given. Secondly, the information content of the submitted document (or in other words boring, a piece of paper), is a historical fact that never goes away, no matter what the Patent Office does, or anyone else does. It's there forever. The phrase "app" is often used without being aware of its ambiguity. This phrase can mislead experienced professionals though.
Maps Patent application
National, regional and international apps
Depending on the office in which the patent application is filed, the application could be an application for patents in certain countries, or possibly applications for patents in different countries. The first is known as the "national application (patent)", and the latter as "regional application (patent)".
National app
National applications are generally submitted to national patent offices, such as the Royal Patent Office of the United Kingdom, to obtain patents in the office's country. Applications may be filed directly in the office, or may result from regional applications or from international applications under the PCT Patent Agreement (PCT), upon entering the national phase . .
Regional apps
A regional patent application is one that may be influential in different countries. The European Patent Office (EPO) is an example of a regional patent office. EPO grants patents applicable in some or all countries that contract European Patent Convention (EPC), following a single application process.
Archiving and demanding applications in the regional grant office is profitable because it allows patents in a number of countries to be obtained without having to sue applications in all these countries. Therefore, the cost and complexity of obtaining protection is reduced.
International applications (under the Patent Cooperation Treaty)
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is operated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and provides a centralized application process, but the patent is not granted under the agreement.
The PCT system allows applicants to apply for a single patent application in one language. Applications, called international applications, may, at a later date, lead to the grant of a patent in one of the states contracting with PCT. WIPO, or more precisely the WIPO International Bureau, performs many of the formalities of patent applications centrally, thereby avoiding the need to repeat the steps in all countries where a patent can finally be awarded. WIPO coordinates the search conducted by one of the International Searching Authorities (ISA), publishes international applications and coordinates preliminary investigations conducted by one of the International Preliminary Examination Authorities (IPEA). Steps such as naming inventors and applicants, and submitting copies of certified priority documents can also be done centrally, and need not be repeated.
The main advantage of continuing through the PCT route is that the option to obtain patents in different countries is maintained, while the cost of a large number of applications is suspended. In most countries, if the national application is successful, the damage can be claimed from the date of publication of the international application.
Application type
The patent office can determine a number of different types of applications, each offering different and useful benefits in different situations. Each office uses a different name for the app type, but the general group is detailed below. Within each group there are special types of applications, such as utility patents, plant patents, and design patents, each of which can have their own substantive and procedural rules.
Standard app
The standard patent application is a patent application containing all necessary parts (eg written description of invention and claim) required for grant of patent. Standard patent applications may or may not result in the granting of patents depending on the results of the examination by the patent office submitted. In the US, standard patent applications are referred to as "non-provisional" apps.
Temporary app
Temporary patent applications may be filed in many patent offices, such as the USPTO in the US. The temporary application provides an opportunity to place the application on file to obtain the filing date (thus securing the priority date), but without the cost and complexity of the standard patent application. Temporary application disclosures may, within a limited time (one year in the US), be incorporated into a standard patent application if a patent has to be pursued. Otherwise, the temporary application will expire. No enforceable rights can only be obtained through the submission of a temporary application.
Advanced apps
In certain offices patent applications may be filed as a continuation of the previous application. This kind of application is an easy method for inserting material from a previous app in a new app when the priority year is over and further refinements are required. Different types of continuation applications are possible, such as continuation and continuation-in-sections .
Application division
The division app is one that is "shared" from existing apps. A division app may only contain subject matter in a shared app (the parent ), but retain the filing date and priority of that parent. The division app is useful if the unity of the invention of the objection is issued, in which case the second (and third, fourth, etc.) findings may be protected in the division application.
File preparation, filing and prosecution
The process of obtaining a patent begins with the preparation of a specification which describes the invention. The specifications are filed in the patent office for inspection and finally the patent for the invention described in the application is given or rejected.
Patent specifications
The patent specification is a document that describes the invention sought by its patent and specifies the scope of the patent protection. Accordingly, the specification generally contains a section detailing the background and overview of the present invention, the description of the invention and the embodiment of the invention and the claim, which defines the scope of protection. A specification may include an image to aid the description of the invention, gene sequence and reference to a biological deposit, or computer code, depending on the subject of the application. Most patent offices also require that the app include an abstract that provides a summary of the findings to aid the search. Titles should generally be reserved for applications.
Each patent office has rules relating to the form of specification, defining things like paper size, font, layout, part order and title. These requirements vary between offices.
Because descriptions can not be generally modified after being submitted (with narrow exceptions), it is important to do it right the first time.
Claim
The patent specification claims determine the scope of the patent protection granted by the patent. The claims illustrate the invention in a special law style, establishing the essential features of the invention in a manner to clearly define what would infringe the patent. Claims are often altered during prosecution to narrow or expand their scope.
Claims may contain one or more set of hierarchical claims, each of which has one or more independent main claims that establish the widest protection, and a number of dependent claims that narrow that protection by specifying more specific features of the invention.
In the US, claims can be changed once a patent has been granted, but the scope can not be extended beyond what was originally disclosed in the specification. No widening of claims allowed more than two years after patent issues.
Date filing
The filing date of the application is important, as it establishes a cutoff date after which public disclosure can not form a prior art (but the priority date must also be considered), and also because, in most jurisdictions, the patent for a Discovery lies with the first person applying for the discovery's protection (See: first for file and first to create). It is therefore generally helpful to apply as soon as possible.
To obtain the filing date, the documents filed must comply with the rules of the patent office where the document was submitted. Complete specifications that comply with all rules may not be required to obtain a filing date. For example, in the UK, no claims and abstracts are required to obtain the filing date, but may be added later. However, since no subject can be added to the app after the filing date, it is important that the app disclose all material relevant to the app at the time of filing. If the requirements for granting the filing date are not met, the patent office notifies the applicant of the deficiency. Depending on the law of the patent office concerned, corrections may be made without moving the filing date, or the application may be given an archiving date adjusted to the date when the requirements have been met. The proposed application generally receives the application number.
Priority claim
The patent application may claim priority from one or more previously submitted applications to utilize the date of filing of previous applications (in respect of information contained in the previous application). Claiming priorities is desirable because previous effective filing dates reduced the amount of previous art disclosures, increasing the likelihood of obtaining patents.
Priority systems are useful in applying for patents in many countries, as the cost of filing may be delayed up to a year, without any apps being made earlier for the same invention with further application counts.
Rules relating to priority claims pursuant to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and those that provide priority systems consistent with the Paris Convention are said to be convention states . These rules should not be confused with the rules under the Patent Cooperation Agreement (PCT), described above.
Security issues
Many national patent offices require that security clearance be granted before filing a patent application in a foreign country. The license is intended to protect national security by preventing the spread and publication of technologies related to (among other things) warfare or nuclear weapons.
Rules vary between patent offices, but in general all submitted applications are reviewed and if they contain relevant material, confidentiality orders may apply. The sequence may prevent the publication of the application, and/or the filing of a foreign patent relating to the invention.
If it is desirable to apply in a country other than the country of residence of the inventor, it may be necessary to obtain a foreign applying license from the inventor's national patent office to permit to apply overseas. Some offices, such as the USPTO, may grant automatic licenses after a certain time (for example, 6 months), if an order of confidentiality is not issued at that time.
Publications
Patent applications are generally published 18 months after the initial priority date of the application. Prior to such publication, the app is confidential to the patent office. After publication, depending on local regulations, certain parts of the application file may remain confidential, but it is common for all communications between the Applicant (or his agent) and the patent office to be publicly available.
The publication of a patent application marks the date on which it is publicly available and therefore where it forms the previous full art for other patent applications worldwide.
Patents waiting
The phrase "patent pending" is a warning that the alleged discovery is the subject of a patent application. This term may be used to mark products containing this invention to alert third parties to the fact that a third party may infringe a patent if the product is copied after a patent has been granted. Rules on the use of terms to mark products vary between patent offices, as well as the benefits of such tagging. In general, it is permissible to apply a patent pending term for a product if any, in fact, a patent pending for any invention applied in the product.
Patented subject
Patents are granted to protect the invention, but whilst the invention may occur in any field, the patent law has restrictions on the field in which the patent may be granted. These restrictions are known as exclusions from patents .
The scope of the subject that can be patented is significantly greater in the US than in Europe. For example, in Europe, things like computer software or methods of doing mental actions can not be patented. The subject of what should be patented is highly controversial, especially for software and business methods.
Search and check
After submission, either systematically or, in some jurisdictions, upon request, a search is made for a patent application. The purpose of the search is to disclose the prior art that may be relevant to the patent of the alleged discovery (that is, relevant to what is claimed, "the material claimed"). Search reports are published, generally with apps 18 months after the priority date of the app, and thus are public documents. The search report is useful for the applicant to determine whether the application should be pursued or if there is a prior art preventing the granting of a useful patent, in which case the application may be abandoned before the applicant brings in further costs. Search reports are also useful to the public and competitors, so they may have an idea of ​​the scope of protection that can be granted to pending patent applications.
In some jurisdictions, including the US, separate searches are not performed, but search and examination are combined. In such a case, separate search reports are not issued, and not until the application is checked that the applicant is notified of the prior art that the patent office examiner deems relevant.
Inspection is the process of ensuring that an application complies with the requirements of the relevant patent law. Examination is generally a recurring process, in which the patent office notifies the applicant of the objection ( see Office actions ). Applicants may respond with arguments or amendments to overcome objections. Such amendments and arguments may then be accepted or rejected, triggering further responses, and so on, until the patent is issued or the application is abandoned.
Publish or post
Once the patent application complies with the requirements of the relevant patent office, patents are granted further official fees, and in some regional patent systems, such as the European patent system, validate patents requires that applicants provide translations of applications in the official languages ​​of countries where they wish protection.
The date of issuance effectively stops prosecution of a particular application, after which a continuous application can not be submitted, and specifies the date on which the violation may be imposed. In addition, the date of issuance of the application in the US filed prior to 1995 is also a factor in the patent term, while the subsequent filing period is determined entirely by the date of filing.
Publish or post
Many jurisdictions require periodic repayment of maintenance fees to maintain the validity of the patent after it is issued and for the duration of its validity. Failure to pay timely fees leads to the loss of patent protection.
The published patent validity can also be subject to post-problem challenges of various types, some of which may cause the patent office to re-examine the application. Element
creates a patent application
The patent application (that is, the document that the applicant file with intent to initiate the patent application process) generally contains a description of the invention along with at least one claim claiming to define it. The patent application may also include an image to illustrate the invention. Furthermore, abstracts are generally required.
For example, an international application (PCT) "must contain the following elements: a request, description, claim or claim, one or more images (in which the image is required to understand the invention), and abstract." Rule 5 PCT determines what the international application description should contain more details.
As another example, the European patent application consists of "a request for the grant of a European patent, a description of the invention, one or more claims, any drawings referred to in the description or claim, and the abstract." Rule 42 The EPC specifies what the description of a European patent application should contain more details.
See also
- Unapproved patent app rejection
- Claim (patent)
- Existing code
- Cocoon
- List of patent law terms
- List of patent offices
- Patent warning, a temporary application used by the USPTO until 1909
- Patent Cooperation Agreement
- Patent infringement
- Patent model, miniature model of invention required by USPTO until 1880
- Proof of concept
- Temporary apps
- Provisional rights
- Unity discovery
- US. Fire Office 1836
- Legal discovery registration
References and notes
Further reading
- Eugenio Archontopoulos, Dominique Guellec, Niels Stevnsborg, Bruno van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, Nicolas van Zeebroeck, When small is beautiful: measuring the evolution and consequences of voluminosity of patent applications in EPO , 2006, No. 06-019.RS, CEB Working Papers of Università © © Libre de Bruxelles, Solvay Business School, Emile Bernheim Center (CEB) (pdf)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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