The Wonderful World of Patents

Carnforth Rotarian, Trevor Blease, gave a very knowledgeable talk about patents on Thursday evening.

 He began by comparing Patents, which are of great commercial value for inventions, to Copyright which is for the written word. Patents only last for 20 years, providing the fees have been maintained, whereas Copyright lasts for 70 years after death.

Patents were put in place to encourage innovation and commercial development. The item has to be novel, not spoken about, inventive, i.e. surprising to others who are skilled in that area and to be industrially applicable.

The inventor has up to 12 months to complete the invention, from priority application to substantive, and 18 months before publishing. However, it can take several years before the Patent is granted. During this time Patents can be edited, but not re-written. Anything to be deleted has to be struck through, not erased.

There is also a substantial difference between Patent Granted and Patent Pending, which is often seen, but not a guarantee of anything further.

Also, patentability is not freedom to operate as there may be other companies involved, for example, an inventor of a new part for an engine cannot apply their patent to the whole of the engine. Hence, commercial discussions take place until a decision is reached.