About Patent
What can be protected as a Patent?
For a patent to be able to be granted, the relevant invention must be new, involve an inventive step and be susceptible of industrial application.
An invention is new, if it does not form part of an earlier technique, if that is, it does not include anything that has been put, in any way, at the disposal of the public anywhere in the world, before the application date or the priority date, in case you claim priority.
An invention is considered to involve an inventive step if it is not obvious to an expert in the relevant technology sector that it arises from the aforementioned earlier technique.
Susceptible of industrial application
An invention is considered as susceptible of industrial application when it can be manufactured or used in any industrial sector, including crafts, agriculture, fish farming and services.
A patent is not granted in relation to an invention whose exploitation contravenes public order or morality.
Invention non-susceptible of patent safeguarding
The following are not regarded as “inventions” and consequently no patent is granted in relation to them:
- discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
- aesthetic creations;
- schemes, rules and methods for performing mental activities, playing games or performing economic activities, and computer programs;
- presentations of information;
- biotechnological invention limited to certain plant variety or animal breed;
- biological methods for the production of plants or animals:
- the human body, the simple discovery of one of its individual elements, including the gene sequence;
- methods for cloning human beings;
- methods for modifying the germ line genetic identity of human beings;
- uses of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes;
- methods for modifying the genetic identity of animals, which is likely to cause them suffering without any substantial human or animal medical utility and animals produced by such methods.
