Watch an innovation breakfast about the subject:
A patent consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention.
For an invention to be patentable it:
- Must be new (not belonging ti the state of the art);
- Must involve an inventive step (not easily conceivable by any person having an expertise in the relevant discipline);
- Must be capable of industrial application (to be used in the industry)
Patenting (the process):
Norinnova always perform a prior art study/patentiability study before patenting
- Free of cost for inventors - Norinnova cover costs
- Process involving patent lawyer, inventor(s) and Norinnova
- Inventors need to support with writing, data and advise
- No publications before patent is filed!
- Includes abstract, posters, presentations etc.
- External collaborations to be secured by confidentiality agreements (CDA/NDA, MTA)
- Norinnova normally prefer PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty)
- "Buy time" (30 months from filing before national phase)
- Delay major costs uuntil commercial partner is "on board"
The anatomy of a patent
A typical patent consists of four main parts;
- Front page(s)
- Drawings
- Specification
- A background section
- A list of drawings
- A detailed description
- Claims
- Claims are the most important part of the document and describe what the patent does or do not cover!
Licensing
A legal agreemment where an invention can be commercialized by a company. It gives the company permission to use the invention to sell.
What happens for the researcher in the event of licensing?
- Potential future income from project; inventors (1/3) and research group (1/3)
- Future collaboration with company?
- Consulting?
- Handling over know-how, materials, protocols etc.
- Support patents
- Confidentiality
- Right to improvements?
- Rights to publish