Invention and Patent Protection Rights
13 March 2025A patent is an exclusive intellectual property right granted for an invention (a product or a process which offers a new technical solution to a problem) and provides the inventors with legal protection against third party claims. Patents benefit society by allowing inventors to protect and monetise technical information whilst being able to release it to third parties, which accelerates innovation.
A patent may be granted for inventions in any field of technology. Patents are territorial rights and as such they offer protection only in countries or regions where the patent is granted. In any other country, anyone can make, use, offer for sale, import or sell the invention.
A patent provides exclusive rights to inventors and prevents the commercial exploitation, use, distribution, import or sale of the patented invention without the patent owner’s consent for a limited period of time. A patent owner can seek a wide range of remedies for patent infringement, including injunctions, damages and declaratory relief.
When choosing the relevant country/market to protect the patent the following aspects may be considered: area of commercialization, market for similar products, costs involved in each targeted region, main competitors in the region, place of the manufacturing of the product; process of enforcement of the patent in a particular region.
The inventor, a lawyer or an industrial property representative have the rights to file the application for patent protection.
Scope of Patentability
Each national legislation defines subject matters that are eligible for patent protection. In many countries, the exact scope of patentable subject matter is defined by listing what is not patentable. While there are differences between jurisdictions, subject matter that is excluded from patentability often concerns inventions whose commercial use would violate public order and morality, including those relating to methods for cloning humans, for altering the genetic identity of a human embryo, use of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes, methods for modifying the genetic identity of animals when there is a risk that this will cause them suffering.
Conditions for patentability
Novelty: Тhe invention must present new not known characteristic prior to the filing date
Inventive step: Тhe invention must involve an inventive step that could not be deduced by a person with ordinary skill in the relevant technical field
Industrial application: Тhe invention must be capable of being used repeatedly in any branch of industry and agriculture.
Patenting process
Obtaining a patent starts with a patent application to a national or regional intellectual property (IP) office. This process includes several steps and entails diverse costs, depending on the regional or national laws of the country or countries in which the application is filed. Patents are granted on a first-to-file basis.
The process of registration starts with a formal examination of the relevant office. The office undertakes to complete prior art search and substantive examination and it can grant or refuse patent application. Patent offices provide a specific period during which others can oppose the grant of a patent.
The applicant can also apply the benefit of “priority date” in case a patent application for the same invention is applied in other countries within a certain period of time as of filing of the first application using the date of the first application as a starting date for protection of the subsequent applications. Filing applications in several countries is possible, however, can be very expensive and time consuming, especially before knowing whether and in which countries the invention will be commercially successful. The process is facilitated by the possibility to file applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
NBLO’s Expertise in IP Protection
With extensive experience in Intellectual Property NBLO is committed to assist clients with tailored advice related to protection of IP rights. Our team offers customised legal solutions to help founders and inventors to protect their IP property.
For more information or advice, please contact us.