Protecting intellectual property is always an extremely important issue, especially in the current knowledge age. In it, intellectual property includes issues of patents and inventions. So what is a patent? Conditions to be granted a patent? To answer your questions, Viet An Law offers the following article about patents.
Legal basis
- The Law on Intellectual Property 2005, as amended and supplemented in 2009, 2019, 2022.
What is an invention?
According to Clause 12, Article 4 of the Intellectual Property Law, an invention is a technical solution in the form of a product or process aimed at solving a defined problem by applying natural laws.
Inventions are also one of the subjects protected by intellectual property rights in Vietnam according to the provisions of the Intellectual Property Law and other relevant legal documents.
After the invention is registered and granted a patent by the National Office of Intellectual Property, the patent owner will be granted a patent for invention and will be protected by law when there is any act of infringement. patent rights.
What is a patent protection title?
According to the provisions of current Vietnamese law, a patent protection title is first and foremost a type of diploma granted by the National Office of Intellectual Property to the creator of an invention or the owner of an invention in order to protect an invention and the owner has the exclusive right to use their invention for a certain period of time.
Conditions to be granted a patent ?
According to the provisions of Article 58 of the Intellectual Property Law, in order to be protected in the form of a patent, an invention must fully satisfy three conditions:
Novelty of inventions
- Novelty requires that the invention be substantially different from those previously disclosed, which means that the technical information disclosed in the invention has not been publicly disclosed in terms of its use, description in form of written or any other form at domestic or abroad before the filing date of an invention registration application or prior to the priority date in case the application have the right of priority under the provisions of Article 60 of the Intellectual Property Law.
- That invention has not been publicly disclosed. Whether the invention has been publicly disclosed or not is based on the degree of disclosure of the invention. If the invention has not been disclosed to the extent that it allows a person with average knowledge of the relevant technical field to create, produce, or can use or exploit, the invention is not considered lose novelty. As in the case of an invention, it will not be considered publicly available if only a limited number of people are aware of it and are obliged to keep the information about the invention confidential.
Inventive nature of inventions
- This is considered a decisive condition for whether an invention can be considered for exclusive protection.
- The inventive nature of the invention will be assessed on the basis of comparison with technical solutions that have been publicly disclosed prior to the filing date or, in the case of patents, the priority date of the invention. that patent application.
- An invention that does not satisfy the inventive step and is not protected is an invention that contains only trivial improvement in a similar technical area or signs that make a difference that can be inferred from those already in existence by persons with average knowledge of the field corresponding to the invention.
Inventions which are susceptible of industrial application
- This is a condition of the usefulness of the invention. Accordingly, an invention cannot be heavily theoretical, but it must also bring practical benefits that can be applied to life.
- An invention is considered to be of industrial applicability if it is possible to realize the manufacture, mass production or repeated application of the process which is the subject matter of the invention and obtain stable results.
Benefits of patent protection
Patent protection is a huge advantage for the owner. Patent protection gives the holder the exclusive right to use and exploit the invention for up to 20 years from the date of filing the application for registration of the invention. Accordingly, the benefits that can be brought when patent protection are as follows:
- Through such patent exclusivity, the patent owner prevents others from using the protected invention for commercial purposes, thereby limiting competitive pressure and giving his product an advantage. monopoly in the market.
- Once the invention is registered as a proprietary product, the owner can commercialize his invention to get a high profit from the original product creation.
- In case the patent owner is not able to exploit the invention by himself, the patent owner has another option of selling or licensing the right to commercialize the invention to another subject who is able to exploit inventions to create great commercial value. This will also help the owner earn a large profit.
- For business partners, investors and customers, a patent can be seen as an affirmation of the patent owner’s professional and high-tech capabilities. Especially for businesses that are patent owners, a patent can attract potential investors to the business because they will see the capable, this not only protects the investment investment, but also can raise capital and enhance the value of the business in the market.
Limitations when not patent protection
Beside the benefits that patents bring to businesses, it is necessary to consider the limitations of not registering for patent protection. When your invention is not patented, there may be some problems as follows:
- Someone else can apply for that invention first. When someone else has filed an application for registration before the invention owner, it means that the application filed later will be rejected and the previous applicant for protection will have full legal rights and interests in respect of the invention if it is granted a patent.
- Once the owner’s invention is ungranted but still commercialized, competitors can produce similar products with much more competitive quality and prices. That will make it difficult for the patent owner to get into the business of the invention that he has invested time and effort to create.
- The ability to license and exchange the patent is impeded. Once the owner of the invention is not granted a patent, the business partners, investors and shareholders will not have enough confidence to make a transaction related to the invention because of the the risks that it brings. That making the position of the owner and the enterprise of that patent owner become difficult in the market.
The above article is information about patent protection title. Clients who have any questions about patent issues, please contact Viet An Law for the best support!
