Obtaining a patent
To obtain a valid patent an invention has to be new (NOVEL), not be obvious and must be useful (UTILITY).
Individuals or companies may wish to apply for a patent when:
- A new product or process has been invented or developed from which they wish to profit
- An invention is new, improved or inventive and is a useful device (ie tools, utensils, machinery and equipment) or method
- The invention involves the construction or manufacture of a substance, article, or apparatus; or, an industrial type of process
During the time a patent is being sought by an inventor, partial protection is offered while a patent is being applied for, as indicated by the phrase 'patent pending' or 'pat. pending'
For your own inventions
- Speak with a company legal officer, for example, UniSA Legal
- Contact UniSA Ventures, the commercialisation arm of UniSA
- Apply to the patent office in your capital city
What is not patentable?
- Artistic creations, mathematical methods, some schemes of business or other purely mental acts, mere discoveries and ideas
- Any invention that has been disclosed publicly before a valid patent is obtained
- Any invention already patented by someone else
Un-patentable matter
Examples of un-patentable matter:
- Mere discoveries and ideas (rather than a method or apparatus for putting that discovery or idea into practice)
- Mere arrangement of printed material on sheets
- Computer programmes per se
- Mathematical formulae
- Business systems, methods of bookkeeping - although one of the biggest changes in the patent scene is the subject of business method patents. Automated processes are now being patented
- Human beings and the biological processes etc. Although GM and bioengineering developments are causing some conflicts