We've all seen and heard of patents, but how many people actually know what a patent does and what you can get a patent for? The simple answer to this question is that, although many people are aware of the function of a patent, surprisingly few people know anything more than that, even straightforward aspects such as what you can get a patent for.



A patent is one of four main types of intellectual property, which is essentially any form of ‘original creation' that can be bought or sold. The other three are trademarks, designs and copyright. Patents are used to protect new inventions and give the owner of the invention the legal right to prevent others from ‘making, using, importing or selling' the invention unless they first obtain the permission of the owner.

However, on rare occasion, a patent is not enough to stop other people from attempting to exploit the patented invention through importing, copying, manufacturing or selling the invention. In such cases, a patent would give the owner the legal right to take those exploiting the invention to the courts in order to claim damages against them, and, as a result, a patent can act as a deterrent to those who try to exploit inventions. Part of the way it does this is by detailing the invention very clearly so that the court would be able to see it had been copied. Patents cover many different aspects of an invention, such as how inventions work, what function they carry out, how they carry out that function, what the invention is made of, and how the invention is made.

Patents allow the owner to sell the invention and to sell the intellectual property rights, and to license the invention to someone else whilst retaining the intellectual property rights. Additionally, a patent allows the owner to chat about the invention with other people so that they may start a business that is based around the invention.

There are many reasons to patent an invention, and one of the foremost reasons is that of what will happen if you do not patent your invention. If you invent something and do not patent it, anyone can use, manufacture, and even sell your invention without first obtaining your permission. Although it is sometimes possible to keep an invention a secret, it is often impossible to do so if technology is on display as part of the invention.

If you have invented something that you wish to patent, an important consideration to bear in mind is that you should not tell anyone about your invention before you apply to patent it, as this can cause your application to become invalid. There are, of course, exceptions to this, in that you can speak to – and it advisable to do so – solicitors, registered lawyers, or even a patent agent, as anything you tell them will be in confidence as it is legally privileged.

Another thing to consider is that you cannot patent certain things, such as mathematical discoveries or artistic work, because they do not conform to the requirements of patent protection. Inventions must ‘relate to how something works, what it does, what it is made of, or how it is made', it must be new, it must be an inventive step in the area it covers, and it must be capable of being either made or used in an industry.

Before applying for a patent, it helps to get good, confidential advice from a professional, such as a solicitor. If you wish to find out more – before talking to a professional – about, for example, the requirements for patent protection it is best to go to the government website for its Intellectual Property office, where all guidelines on patents can be found.

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