The first step to obtain a patent is to file an application with a national or regional intellectual property (IP) office. If you seek patent protection in many countries, you may consider filing an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
There are numerous conditions that must be met in order to obtain a patent, and it is not possible to compile an exhaustive, universally applicable list. However, some of the key substantive conditions include the following:
The costs vary significantly from country to country. Even within a country, the costs depend on various factors, such as the nature of the invention, its complexity, the patent attorney’s fees, the length of the application, and possible objections raised during the examination by the patent office.
Please also bear in mind the following:
The relevant national or regional patent office will be able to give you details on their fee structure.
A patent application generally consists of the following parts:
Expert tip: A prior art search can help you avoid wasting money on a patent application if the search uncovers prior art references that are likely to make a patent impossible to obtain.
Expert tip: Claims are typically drafted in a special format. Given the complexity of patent applications and the legal skills required for claim drafting, it is highly advisable to seek legal assistance from a patent attorney/agent when drafting a patent application.
Expert tip: To learn how to draft a patent application, use thePatent Drafting Training Programthat assists users of the patent system in developing practical skills required to draft and file patent applications.
Generally, you should apply for patent protection as soon as you have all the information required to draft the application. Reasons to file early include:
Rushing to file a patent application, however, may also create problems:
Expert tip: Keeping an invention confidential prior to filing the application is absolutely essential. Public disclosure of an invention before filing can destroy the novelty of the invention, making it unpatentable, unless the applicable law provides for a so-called “grace period”.
In countries where the grace period is provided, public disclosure of an invention under certain conditions does not affect the patentability of the invention, if a patent application is filed during the grace period, which is typically six or twelve months from the date of the public disclosure.
Any pre-filing disclosure (e.g., for test or marketing, or to investors or other business partners) should take place only after signing a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement.
Once you submit your patent application to a patent office, it will be processed according to national/regional law.
There are important differences among countries, so it is always best to check with the national/regional patent office to obtain up-to-date information on the procedures and applicable fees. In general, the processing of a patent application involves the following elements:
Patents are territorial rights, which means that your invention is protected only in the countries or regions where you have received a patent.
In other words, if a patent has not been granted, or recognized, in a given country, the invention will not be protected in that country. That means that anyone can make, use, offer for sale, import or sell your invention in that country.
As a general recommendation, if you intend to commercially exploit your invention outside your country, consider obtaining patent protection in all the relevant markets as early as possible. In which countries/regions patent protection should be sought depends on each case. Aspects that may be considered include:
Seek protection in individual countries by applying directly to each national patent office concerned. Each application may have to be translated into the relevant national language.
You will have to pay national application fees, and you will likely need the assistance of a patent attorney/agent of each country to ensure that your application meets specific national requirements.
Some countries concluded regional agreements that established a regional patent office that grants regional patents. This means that one regional patent application can get you protection in a number of countries in the region, either through the grant of a “bundle of national patents” or the grant of one “unitary patent” being valid in all member states of the respective regional agreement. The regional patent offices include:
WIPO's PCT System significantly simplifies the process for simultaneously seeking patent protection in more than 150 countries. Rather than filing multiple national and/or regional applications in each country/region, the PCT system enables you to file a single application, in one language, and to pay just one application fee.
The PCT system can also help you to gain more time to assess the commercial value of your invention before national fees are to be paid in the national phase.