Patent

What is a patent?

A patent is an intellectual property right granted by a public authority for the protection of an invention within a specific geographic territory and for a limited duration (usually 20 years). In exchange for a detailed description of the invention, the patent confers on its owner the right to prohibit third parties from exploiting, manufacturing, using, marketing and importing/exporting the invention without his authorization, within the territory covered by the patent.

When and where to file a patent? When and where to file?

Patent application must be submitted to an intellectual property office before any public disclosure of the invention (such as an oral or poster communication at a conference, public defense of a PhD thesis, publication of a scientific article including preprints, etc.).

What are the requirements?

Patents are granted for any invention in any field of technology, provided that the invention is new, involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application (Article 52(1) of the European Patent Convention / patentability memo). Discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods, aesthetic creations, computer programs, presentations of information and plans, principles or methods for carrying out intellectual activities in the field of games or economic activities, are not considered inventions and are therefore not patentable as such.

In addition, certain inventions are excluded from patentability by law, namely inventions whose commercial exploitation would be contrary to ordre public or morality, methods of human cloning, plant varieties or animal breeds as well as essentially biological processes for obtaining plants or animals, methods of surgical or therapeutic treatment of the human or animal body and diagnostic methods applied to the human or animal body (Article 53 of the European Patent Convention).
The rules and exceptions mentioned are those applied within the member states of the European Patent Convention. Differences may exist between different jurisdictions.

T
here is no legal definition of what an invention is, but it is usually defined as a solution using technical means to solve a technical problem.

Who owns the patent?

The patent applicant is generally the patent holder (owner). When the research results to be protected belong to the university, the patent application is filed in the name of the university (Intellectual Property regulations). If the invention has been made by several applicants, they will be co-owners. The names of the inventors are also cited in the patent.

Is software patentable in Europe?

Computer programs are not considered inventions as such. However, if
the software can be seen as a technical process which the software is intended to carry out, it can be considered an invention and thus become patentable. Such products or processes are called “computer-implemented inventions”.