PATENT LAW

PATENT
A patent is a right granted to the owner of an
invention that prevents others from making, using,
importing or selling the invention without his
permission.
A patentable invention can be a product or a process
that gives a new technical solution to a problem. It
can also be a new method of doing things, the
composition of a new product, or a technical
improvement on how certain objects work.
Once it is granted, its term of a patent is 20 years
from the Date of Filing, subject to the payment of
annual renewal fees.
THE BENEFITS OF REGISTERING A
PATENT
Once you register a patent, apart from using the patent
to prevent others from exploiting your invention, you can
employ it to raise funds for your business, license it to
third parties for commercial returns or sell the patented
invention.
INVENTIONS
involves the discovery of any new and useful process,
machine, [article of] manufacture, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.
Two criteria that make sure it is truly an
invention:
Novelty an invention is a novel only if it has not
previously been invented by someone else.
Nonobviousness a solution to a problem that is obvious
to another specialist in the appropriate area cannot be
patented. There is no widely accepted definition of, or
test for, obviousness, which is why many court cases to
invalidate patents focus on challenging the obviousness of
the invention.
For an invention to be patentable, it must, in
general, satisfy three key criteria:
1. New The invention should not be publicly known in any way,
anywhere in the world.
Owners of inventions should be careful to keep the invention secret
until a patent application has been successfully made. If the idea has
already been talked about, commercially exploited, advertised or
demonstrated, then the novelty of the invention may be
compromised.
If the invention needs to be disclosed to a third party before a
patent application has been made, a non-disclosure agreement
should be drawn up.
Once a Date of Filing has been obtained for the patent application,
the invention can claim a "Patent Pending" status and the applicant
can proceed to disclose the invention as indicated in the patent
application to interested parties. As part of the application process,
the patent application will be published after 18 months and if the
statutory requirements are met. Once published, details of the
invention will be made available for public inspection.
 2. Inventive step The invention must be something that
represents an improvement over any existing product or
process that is already available.
The improvement must not be obvious to someone with
technical skills or knowledge in the inventions particular
field. If an invention is new yet obvious to a person skilled in
the art, the invention would not fulfil the inventive step
requirement.

3. Industrial application The invention must be useful and

have some form of practical application. It should be capable of
being made or used in some form of industry.
The following is not a patentable
invention:
1. Discovery 9. Method for treatment
2. Scientific theory human or animal body
by surgery or therapy &
3. Mathematical methods diagnostic method
4. Scheme, rule and 10. Plant variety or animal
method of breed or essentially
biological processes for
5. performing mental act the production of plants
6. playing games and animals
7. doing business 11. Aesthetic creation
12. Contrary to public
8. program for computer order or morality (Sec.
22, IP Code )
TRADEMARK
A trade mark is a sign that you can use to distinguish
your business goods or services from those of other
traders.
A trade mark can be represented graphically in the
form of your companys logo or a signature.
Through a registered trade mark, you can protect
your brand (or mark) by restricting other people
from using its name or logo.
Once acquired, a trade mark can last indefinitely as
long as you renew it every 10 years. Because a
registered trade mark is a form of IP, you can license
or assign it to others.
Trade Mark Classification
The following can be registered as a trade mark but a mark
must be distinctive and capable of distinguishing your goods or
services from similar ones of other traders:
letters
words
names
signatures
labels
devices
tickets
shapes
colours
or any combination of these elements.
TRADE DRESS
is a legal term of art that generally refers to
characteristics of the visual appearance of a product or its
packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify
the source of the product to consumers.
Trade dress is a form of intellectual property.
TRADE SECRET
is information that is important to the business or company
and is not known to the public. It is a term often used to cover
information that has commercial value. A trade secret can
include, for example, a method or technique that would give a
business or company an edge over its competitors.
The law on the protection of confidential information protects
ideas and information not in the public domain, including trade
secrets. Thus, the law on trade secrets is really about the
protection of confidential information.
Under the law, such information is protected as a secret from
everyone except certain key individuals within the business or
company. If someone reveals this secret information to others,
especially if he is aware that it is a secret, legal action can be
taken against him.
PROTECTION OF TRADE SECRETS
No registration procedures are involved for protection of a
trade secret, and there is no specified time limit within which
the secret may be protected. When a trade secret is leaked
out, this breach of confidence is an action that may be taken in
court, as this leak of the secret is unfair to the
business/company, and may have harmful consequences.
However, not all information can be considered a trade
secret. The court will consider the following when
determining whether there has been a breach of confidence:
1. The information was confidential to the business/company;
2. The information has been revealed in breach of a promise of
confidence; and/or
3. The information was used in an improper way that has
resulted in financial damage to the business/company.
HOW TO PROTECT TRADE SECRETS
The following are some useful pointers for protecting the
confidentiality of information:
1. Limit the number of people who can access such
confidential information;
2. Have employees sign non-disclosure agreements, which
provide that they have to maintain confidential specific
information that is disclosed to them;
3. Ensure that any individuals who come into contact with
the business or company, such as consultants
and vendors, sign non-disclosure agreements; and
4. Keep a clear record of all business deals that may
contain any confidential information.
Seatwork: Patent
Create a list of the five most important (in your opinion)
computer software inventions of the past 20 years. For
each item, very briefly explain why you think it is an
invention and why it is important.
Many pharmaceutical companies are now using patents to
protect genetic sequences. Research the issue, and then
explain why you think is, or is not, a good use of patent
protection.
Seatwork: Trademark
Write an argument that either defends or refutes the
following position: it should not be legal to trademark a
color.
The Nintendo Wii has a particularly recognizable design
and trade dress. Immediately after its release , a variety of
companies started releasing knock-off game systems that
looked like the Wii and had a similar price. Research
some of these systems on the internet, and then either
defend or refute the following position: Nintendo should
have been able to stop these companies from selling game
systems that looked similar to the Nintendo Wii.