Patent is a set of rights given by the patent office to the patent owner. The patent owner can stop all others from using, making, selling, importing, the product patented by the patent owner.

Any idea which is novel, inventive and has industrial applicability is patentable. It may be a device, a method, a method of manufacturing etc.

Any idea/concept/technology which is NOT known to public in any form anywhere in the world, is referred as novel.

If the idea has technical advancement over known concepts/technologies and the idea is not obvious to peopled skilled in same domain, then idea is considered to be inventive

Any idea/concept/feature which addresses a technical problem and provides a technical solution is patentable if it is novel and inventive.

The idea needs to be evaluated for patentability to find out whether it is novel and inventive. If it meets these requirements, the idea is drafted as a patent application and submitted to patent office. The patent office publishes it normally after 18 months, then patent office examines it for requirements under patent laws (mainly novelty and inventiveness) and if the patent office finds that the patent application meets all the requirements, the patent office grants the patent.

In some countries, typically it may take about three years from the date of submission of patent application at the patent office till it is granted. In India, the startups can apply for expedited examination and the patent may be granted within a year.

Few countries may give a grace period from the date of publishing in a recognized journal to file a patent application. However, it is suggested that a patent application is filed before making the idea public in any form anywhere.

No. However the idea should be described in such a way that people skilled in the same domain can infer how to implement it by reading the patent.

Yes. The product can be sold, made public in the country where the patent application is filed, after submitting the patent application at the patent office. However the applicant gets patent like rights only from the date of publication of the patent application by the patent office in their journal, which is typically 18 months from submission of patent application in patent office.

No. Patent rights are negative rights. The patent owner can stop others from using his patented concept. However, the patented concept itself may be based on another patent. Hence, before designing a product, even if it is based on own patent, it is advisable to check for any infringement on others’ patents.

Yes. Most of the patents granted are improvements over existing technologies.

Others may copy your product and sell at cheaper price. You will not be able to stop them.

Ideas may emerge at multiple stages of product development. Once the idea is in some shape and looks having technical advancements over existing technology, it may be explored for patenting. It may be during different stages like requirement analysis, designing, implementing, testing etc.

No. Patents are country specific. The patent granted in one country is valid only in that country. Some countries have formed unions, for example, European Union, where patents may be valid in multiple countries in the union.

At UniqPatents, it is our mission to make the process simple for the inventors, applicants, organizations etc. We have worked on various technologies. We handle the patentability search, drafting the patent specification, filing in the patent office etc. We only need a simple write up covering the features of the idea. Rest is prepared by us. The expenses vary on the complexity of the idea, however, we try to make it at reasonable price.