When should a patent be applied for?

"I developed a machine for washing puppies in China, but when I came to Canada, I found that it was not available here. I want to apply for a patent for my pet washing machine in Canada. Is that okay?"

"Our test has passed, I posted it on WeChat Moments! Now I want to apply for a patent!"

When answering the above inquiries, Yezhima will feel sorry for the customers. In fact, many companies do not understand the meaning of patents, and are also at a loss as to when to apply for patents. In a large number of companies, the bosses are still immersed in the joy of passing the test in the first minute, and the next minute they find that the neighbor next door has copied his product and it is already selling well.

Self-disclosure

The academic world encourages widespread sharing of discoveries immediately after they are made, from conferences, speeches, journal articles to social media, but this can cause trouble for patent protection. Patents must be novel and inventive over the prior art. Prior art includes any material that was made public anywhere in the world before the patent application date, including your Moments. If you share your work, even through social media posts, speeches, or talks at conferences, such disclosure may be considered to destroy novelty. Selling products based on your invention is another form of self-disclosure that can also destroy novelty and prevent your patent from being granted. Also, avoid publishing anything that might make your invention visible to the public, such as future work plans in journal articles.

Confidentiality Agreement

If you plan to talk to collaborators or investors before you prepare a patent application, avoid disclosing any information that would destroy novelty and arrange for the relevant people to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) first. This will help you not to lose the patent rights to your invention.

Novelty grace period

If you have accidentally disclosed the content you want to apply for a patent, you will need to use the novelty grace period, which is crucial for some patent applicants. Many countries have loose regulations on the novelty grace period. For example, New Zealand, Australia, the United States and other countries have a novelty grace period of one year. However, China and Europe have very strict requirements, and only provide a six-month grace period when the disclosure is made without the consent of the inventor or in certain specific events with bad faith. In fact, in China, there are few successful cases of proposing a novelty grace period.