Does a patent give me the right to use my invention?
FollowIt is often conceived that a patent gives the right to the patent owner to use his invention. This conception is extrapolated to mean that, if a patent owner sells a product that is based on the invention that is protected by his own patent, then he will not be liable to infringement on others’ patents. This understanding, rather misunderstanding, sometimes becomes the basis for filing a patent application.
Person “X” applies for a patent on a product that has the modules A, B, C and D.
The patent office examines the patent application and identifies 3 existing patents; the first one covering module “A”, the second one covering module “B” and the third one covering module “C”. In spite of these existing patents, the patent office is convinced that a product comprising modules A, B, C and D has inventive step, which makes it non-obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the related technology, and hence grants a patent.
Can I apply for a patent before creating a prototype?
Generally inventors wonder whether they can apply for a patent before creating a prototype.
A simplistic answer to the question is, YES, one can apply for a patent before creating a prototype of the product.
Now let’s go to the reasoning behind the answer.
Every patent application has to be accompanied by a patent specification. The patent specification should explain your invention in sufficient detail so as to enable one having ordinary skill in the field of the invention, to practice your invention. Section 10(4) of the Indian patent act states what has to be included in the patent specification. A part of the aforementioned section is provided below:
(4)Every complete specification shall—
- fully and particularly describe the invention and its operation or use and the method by which it is to be performed;
- disclose the best method of performing the invention which is known to the applicant and for which he is entitled to claim protection;
It shall be noted that, depending on the product and the field of technology, one may be able to “fully and particularly describe the invention and its operation or use and the method by which it is to be performed” without actually building a prototype. However, in some scenarios, one might have to build a prototype to be able to describe the invention in the required manner. In essence, it is not mandatory, according to the Patent Act, to have a working prototype before applying for a patent.
10(3) If, in any particular case, the Controller considers that an application should be further supplemented by a model or sample of anything illustrating the invention or alleged to constitute an invention, such model or sample as he may require shall be furnished before the application is found in order for grant of a patent, but such model or sample shall not be deemed to form part of the specification.
It shall be noted that, making a prototype is not only a time consuming process, but also fairly expensive. If an inventor refrains from applying for a patent till the prototype is prepared, it may delay his patent filing process and in turn the priority date . In the mean time, if someone files for a patent for the same product, they will have earlier priority, and their invention will act as prior art for your invention, even though others might have invented the product after you did.
In such scenarios, he will be eligible for a patent grant, as in many countries of the world, including India, the patent systems follows a 'first to file' and not 'first to invent' concept. Hence, if the inventor feels that he has sufficient details about the invention to enable a person with ordinary skill in the field to practice the invention, even before building the prototype, he should ideally consider filing for a patent.
- Should an inventor take professional help to draft and file patent applications?
- At Which Stage Should I Apply for a Patent?
- How can I find out whether my invention is patentable?
- Should I apply for a patent in the name of my company or in my name?
- Can the details of my invention disclosed in the patent application be maintained as a secret?
- Can publicly disclosed inventions be patented in India?
- Should I apply for a patent before publishing my invention?
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Regards,
Team InvnTree
Patent Office India – Published Patent and Design registration Information – September 21st, 2012
Indian Patent Office publishes patent information on a weekly basis (on Friday each week). This is a public notification, enabling you to take appropriate action if desired.
Data sourced from Indian Patent Office by Team InvnTree.
The attached Pdf can be downloaded here and can also be accessed below.
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US – Patent Cases – Weekly Update – June 19th – June 26th, 2012
In an endeavour to keep patent enthusiasts abreast with the latest patent related activities in leading geographies, we provide a weekly update of patent cases filed in the US.
Patent Office India – Published Patent and Design registration Information – Jun 1st, 2012
Indian Patent Office publishes patent information on a weekly basis (on Friday each week). This is a public notification, enabling you to take appropriate action if desired.
Data sourced from Indian Patent Office by Team InvnTree.
The attached Pdf can be downloaded here and can also be accessed below.
If you would like to get weekly email updates of Indian Patent office's published patent information, Subscribe to this service free of cost
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License
USPTO – Reexamination Request – Update – May 16th to May 22nd, 2012 – InvnTree
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), on a weekly basis, publishes information corresponding to reexamination requests received by them.
US – Patent Cases – Weekly Update – May 15th – May 22nd, 2012.
In an endeavour to keep patent enthusiasts abreast with the latest patent related activities in leading geographies, we provide a weekly update of patent cases filed in the US.
Patent Office India – Published Patent and Design registration Information – May 18th, 2012
Indian Patent Office publishes patent information on a weekly basis (on Friday each week). This is a public notification, enabling you to take appropriate action if desired.
Data sourced from Indian Patent Office by Team InvnTree.
The attached Pdf can be downloaded here and can also be accessed below.
If you would like to get weekly email updates of Indian Patent office's published patent information, Subscribe to this service free of cost
The publication includes published patent applications, design registration and granted patents, among other information, for the week of May 18th, 2012.
You may go through this publication, and if you find patent information that has an impact on your business, then you may take appropriate actions, such as:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License
USPTO – Reexamination Request – Update – May 9th to May 15th, 2012 – InvnTree
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), on a weekly basis, publishes information corresponding to reexamination requests received by them.
US – Patent Cases – Weekly Update – May 8th – May 15th, 2012.
In an endeavour to keep patent enthusiasts abreast with the latest patent related activities in leading geographies, we provide a weekly update of patent cases filed in the US.
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