Patents
Patents cover inventions: A patent once granted, gives you, the patent holder, the statutory monopoly
over your invention.
Only you, the owner of the patent, can use, manufacture or sell your invention or you can consent to others doing so, by way of a licence or franchise.
Your patent is there to protect your investment and as a legal way of preventing others from copying your idea.
You may come up with an idea for a new invention but the idea itself is not patentable- only the physical manifestation of that idea can have a patent.
A patent is an agreement between an inventor and a country. A patent is actually granted via a Government office once the patent application that describes your invention has been thoroughly reviewed.
An Australian patent gives you the exclusive right to manufacture, use or sell your invention & the legal rights to prevent anyone else from doing so.
In most countries, the legal protection of a patent lasts for 20 years, after that the invention becomes part of the public domain. A patent generally is treated legally like property. Patents can be bought and sold, mortgaged, licensed, given away or just forgotten.
You can only patent inventions that are:
- Novel or New
- Non-obvious: Your invention must be sufficiently different. Just substituting one material for another or changing the size of something is not usually patentable. So even if your invention has not been made before in exactly the same way, if the differences between it & the next similar thing already known are just too obvious (too close to being the same) your patent will be declined.
- Inventions must be useful. Your invention must have a practical purpose and it must work!
Confidential Consultation
New inventors not familiar with the world of intellectual property matters should seek a confidential consultation.
A confidential consultation starts with the signing of a Confidentiality Agreement and is an important step for new inventors. It achieves 3 important things:-
1. It records the date and time when the invention was first revealed to us.
2. It allows us an opportunity to provide information about patenting and IP in general.
3. It allows you, the inventor, to make informed decisions about the protection and future of your invention.
Contact us for an appointment to determine
your
individual journey
from Idea to Market.
Call us to discuss your Confidential Consultation:
AUSTRALIA
Head Office: 07 4775 1000
Mackay/Rocky: 07 4953 0671
Ipswich/Toowoomba: 07 4659 9730
Gold Coast: Mobile 0413 968 437
NEW ZEALAND
Auckland: Mobile 0220 216 003
Many of our Australian clients have appeared on the ABC’s New Inventor Program. Some of these inventions will enter international markets within the next 12 months.
Almost 2 million Patents are applied for annually. WIPO Statistics, June 2009
WIPO is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
It promotes the protection of intellectual property worldwide. WIPO also ensures administrative cooperation among the intellectual property Unions established by the treaties that WIPO administers.
The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
Signed in Paris, France, March 20 1883, was one of the first intellectual property treaties. As a result of this treaty, intellectual property, including patents, of any contracting state are accessible to the nationals of other states party to the Convention. The Paris Convention is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) based in Geneva, Switzerland
The Madrid System
Is the international system used for facilitating the registration of trademarks in multiple jurisdictions around the world
