building a competitive edge: protecting inventions by patents and utility models - topic 4 - mclean...
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Building a Competitive Edge: Protecting Inventions by Patents and Utility Models
- Topic 4 -
McLean SibandaPartner: Sibanda & Zantwijk Attorneys, South Africa
Training of the Trainers Program on Effective Intellectual Property Asset Management by Small and Medium Sized
Enterprises (SMEs)Organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and
the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO)Harare, Zimbabwe, 27th November 2014
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Overview
Introduction
Protecting Inventions - Patents
Utility Models
Infringement
Patent Search
Concluding Remarks
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IntroductionIntellectual Property Value Proposition
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Trademarks (logo)
Patents (material).
Copyright (art-work on logo,
text format).
formulation, use of formulation, trademark, copyright
• Design / Patents / Trademarks (Aesthetic, Invention, Trademark)
IntroductionIntellectual Property Examples
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Intellectual Property creations of the mind!
Two broad categories:
Industrial property: inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, geographic indications of source
Copyright: literary and artistic works (e.g. novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works - drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures; and architectural designs.
IntroductionDefining Intellectual Property
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IntroductionPatent System - Articulating the Monopoly
1603 British courts ruled that … patents only good when they benefit the public as a whole
“……… any man
……. by his own charge and industry or by his own wit or invention
…………..doth bring any new trade into the realm or any engine tending to the furtherance of a trade that was never used before and that for the good of the Realm;
…… the King may grant to him a monopoly patent for some reasonable time … otherwise not”
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Protecting InventionsOverview of Types of Intellectual Property
What does it protect?
Patents Inventions / underlying principles
Designs Look – aesthetic features
Trademarks Brand
Copyright Work
Know-how Secret information
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Basis of Protection: Protection to incentivise disclosure recognise human ingenuity Paris Convention National Laws (e.g. THE PATENTS (REGISTRATION) ACT, G.N. No. 457 of 1994 ) Treaties (Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT))
Duration of Rights: 20 year, subject to fees
Licence to SueNB: DON’T NEED A PATENT TO PRACTICE AN INVENTION!-
Patents are territorial Ultimately need to file patent in each country of commercial interest
NEGATIVE RIGHT:To exclude others 1. Manufacture2. Exercise3. Use4. Dispose5. Import
NATURE OF RIGHTS
Protecting InventionsOverview of Patents
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IP an Asset
Therefore Basis of Protection Recouping R&D investments Facilitates licensing Negotiating tool Financing opportunities (venture capitalists, etc) Market exclusivity and expansion Freedom to operate Higher market value and publicity
Protecting InventionsReasons for Seeking Protection
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Protecting Inventions What is Patentable? - Zimbabwe
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Protecting Inventions What is Patentable? - Zimbabwe
(2) ….. an invention shall be deemed to be new if on or before the effective date of the application for a patent the invention was not— (a)known or used anywhere in Zimbabwe by anyone other than the applicant or his agent (b)Used on commercial scale (secret knowledge or secret use)(c)worked anywhere in Zimbabwe otherwise than by way of reasonable technical trial or experiment (d)described in a patent specification available to public inspection(e)described in writing or in any other way in any publication of which there was a copy anywhere in or outside Zimbabwe at the effective date of the application; or (e) claimed in any complete specification with earlier priority date
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Protecting Inventions What is Patentable? - Zimbabwe
A patent shall not be granted under this Act for:
(a) diagnostic, therapeutic or surgical methods for the treatment of human beings or animals; or (b) plants and animals, other than micro-organisms; or (c) essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, other than microbiological processes.
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“Statutory” subject matter Novel / New (Absolute Novelty)
Not anticipated by prior-art on or before filing of application for invention
Patent and non-patent disclosures
Involves an inventive step Not obvious In light of all matter available at time Compare with Novelty Two different concepts – Novelty is 1st
Industrially applicable
Protecting Inventions Patenting Criteria
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Not state of the art before priority date of invention
State of the art: all matter (whether a product, a process, information about either,
or anything else) which has been made available to the public
In any way (oral description, by use, etc.)
matter contained in an application, open to public inspection, for a patent, notwithstanding that that application was lodged at the patent office and became open to public inspection on or after the priority date of the relevant invention
secretly and on a commercial scale
Protecting InventionsState of the Art
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Inventive Step not obvious to a person skilled in the art
having regard to prior art as at priority date of the invention
Industrially applicable Can be manufactured
Otherwise industrially used
Protecting InventionsObviousness / Utility
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Protecting InventionsPatent Application Process
ProvisionalApplication
Complete PatentApplication
PCT PatentApplication
Foreign PatentApplication
12 months
18 months
Publication
National Applications
31 months
Priority
PriorArt
US
Europe
South Africa
Japan
Patents
PatentsPatent Applications
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Protecting InventionsPatent Application Process
Typical timeline - INTERNATIONAL:
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PATENT APPLICATION:
•Provisional patent application
• PCT application
• Convention / Non-convention application
PATENT:
e.g.
• US patent
• EP patent (limited rights)
• National Patents
• South African patent
.
Hope!
The Brat is here!
Protecting InventionsPatents and Applications
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Cover page information Bibliographic information, including non-binding abstract
Diagrams In the context of the specific description
Specification Field of Invention; background and Consistory clauses Example(s) / embodiment(s) of the invention (Specific Description)
Claims Numbered sentences typically at the end of the patent document Define the invention and the extent of the monopoly
Protecting InventionsReview of Patent Document
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Bibliographic Information– Patent / Publication
Number– Publication Date– Title– Inventor– Applicant
Patent Document
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– Filing date
– Priority data
– International patent classification
– Abstract
Patent Document
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• Background• State of the art• Problems that the
invention solves• Summary description of
the invention
Specific Description
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• Brief description of drawings
Drawings
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• Description of preferred embodiments / examples
Description
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• Claims
Claims
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Similar to the patent less stringent patentability
requirements new and industrial
applicability
No examination
Expires without any possibility of renewal at end of 7th year
Protecting InventionsUtility Certificate
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Similar to the patent less stringent patentability requirements New, involves sufficiently inventive step and industrial
applicability
10 year duration
Protecting InventionsUtility Certificate
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Protecting InventionsExamples of Patentable Subject Matter
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Protecting InventionsExamples of Patentable Subject Matter
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Infringement / Freedom To OperateApproach
Valid Patent and in-force
Infringe a valid claim
Check if any amendments required on basis of foreign equivalents
Ascertain Act of infringement
Legislative provisions Groundless threats of infringement Grace period – 9 months in South Africa
1. Manufacture2. Exercise3. Use4. Dispose5. Import
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Patent Search
Novelty searches All prior art (patent + non-patent literature (Google, etc.)) As far back as prior art can go - fundamental enquiry - Is this new?
Freedom to operate / Infringement Searches Patent documents in past 20 years (valid and in force) Focus on claims To infringe - All claim integers to be present in 1 patent document
Tools Proprietary Open / publicly available, e.g. patentscope
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Patent SearchFrom Idea to Market
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Concluding Remarks
To patent or not - a business decision
Patents territorial
Utility certificates broad participation in intellectual property system
No inventiveness requirement
Enforcement requires a proven act of infringement
Patent search, an important tool