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IEEE IPR Office’s

Patents Tutorial

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This Tutorial will introduce you This Tutorial will introduce you to the history of patents and their to the history of patents and their

characteristics, and will offer useful characteristics, and will offer useful advice to consider advice to consider

when applying for a patent.when applying for a patent.

What is a Patent?

What is a Patent?A patent is a grant by the government of exclusive intellectual property rights that allow a patent owner to stop others from taking advantage of the invention that is covered by the patent’s claims and supported by the patent’s specifications.

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Early 15th Century

Senate of Venice enacts a 10-year exclusive privilege on machines or processes which was granted by the Guild Welfare Board of the Republic. Protections were extended to silkmaking, flour and grain mills, cook stoves and printing.

1558

First elements of a modern patent system begins in England. Patents for a dredging machine, and the making of soap, alum, and saltpeter were granted.

1787

U.S. Constitutional Convention includes the clause “to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors, exclusive rights to their respective rights and discoveries.”

1790

Patent Act of 1790 establishes an examination system.

1793

Patent Act of 1793 establishes a registration system similar to the English system of that time.

1836

Patent Act of 1836 establishes the U.S. Patent Office, charged with the examination of the novelty, utility, and importance of an invention. Also establishes the office of the Commisioner of Patents.

1952

Patent Act of 1952 authorizes the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to issue its own Rules of Practice (how the USPTO operates procedurally, substantially, and financially)

Timeline

Patent HistoryThe following are important dates in the development of the modern patent system. Click to proceed along the timeline.

1883

Paris Union Convention established an international patent treaty that remains in force today in most industrialized nations, covering approximately 190 countries.

1978

The Patent Cooperation Treaty is enacted in an effort to help reduce the time and money involved in obtaining worldwide patent protection under the Paris Convention.

Types of Patents

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Utility (article/apparatus)

Method (or process)

Protects new machines, articles of manufacture and compositions of matter

Covers the novel process or steps which transfer material from one state to another. Recently extended protection now covers methods of doing business and computer-related inventions

Types of Patents

Types of Patents

Design

PlantGranted to one who invents or asexually reproduces any new or distinct variety of plant

Granted for any new, original, ornamental, and non-functional design of an article of manufacture

Patents have also included algorithms in computer programs, as well as biotechnology creations such as DNA strands

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What Can Be Patented?

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The following must be true in order for an invention to be patented

It must fall within one of the categories of patentable subject matter

It must be useful, novel, and unobvious

A process patent can be obtained on known apparatus or composition if a new use for the apparatus or composition is discovered

What Can Be Patented?Not

Business forms Promotional advertisement schemes

Anticipated results of desired goals

Functions without any apparatus to perform the function

Nebulous or abstract concepts or ideas

Items or processes occurring in nature or created by someone earlier

Laws of nature

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Anatomy of a Patent

• Title of Patent• Names of the Inventor(s)• Owner of the Patent• Application date

The following are key items that are included in a patent

Patent Number

Anatomy of a Patent

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Statements to explain:• the field of technology to which the invention relates • the background of the invention • problems that the invention will solve

Summary of: • the invention • its elements • how they relate to each other • how they function • how they will meet the objectives described in the Statements

Anatomy of a Patent

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Description of the drawings

Anatomy of a Patent

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Claims to the invention by the applicant

Anatomy of a Patent

What to Consider When Applying for a Patent

Questions to Consider

What is the effect the invention will have on the inventor’s ability to profit?

Does a market exist, or can one be created, for the product or process?

From what countries will patents need to be obtained in order to protect the invention?

Is the public ready for the invention?

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Important Facts to Consider Owning a patent on an invention does not confer a right

to make, sell, offer to sell, or import the invention. What is granted is the right to exclude others from doing so

A patent is not self-enforcing. The government issues the patent, but will not take any positive action on behalf of the patent owner to enforce the inventor’s rights established by the patent

A patent and the information it contains cannot be kept secret, nor suppressed

U.S. patents cannot be enforced internationally. But they may be used to stop importation of products into the U.S. which infringe upon the patents.

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Howard Rockman is a patent attorney currently practicing with Reed Smith LLP in Chicago. He is also an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School and at the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Engineering.

Replete with sample forms of pertinent documents, and helpful points to consider regarding all aspects of intellectual property law, Intellectual Property Law for Engineers and Scientists provides valuable information that all high tech professional should read to protect themselves against potential loss or liability. Also included are interesting essays on famous inventors and their inventions.

The book can be purchased through John Wiley and Sons and Amazon.com

Information presented in this tutorial was taken from Intellectual Property Law for Engineering and Scientists by Howard B. Rockman, which is published by IEEE Press.

About the Tutorial

IEEE IPR Officewww.ieee.org/copyrights(732) 562-3966 copyrights@ieee.org

The IEEE IPR Office staff is available to answer any questions you may have about information provided in this tutorial.

Additional Information

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Additional Information

Web sites for additional information on patents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is a federal agency in the US Department of Commerce whose responsibilities include administering the laws relating to patents and trademarks

www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an agency of the United Nations that administers 23 international treaties dealing with different aspects of intellectual property protection.     

www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/patents.html

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The IPR Tutorial Series

For other tutorials on IPR-related topics, such as

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• Trademarks• Copyrights• Plagiarism

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Copyright © 2008 IEEE

This concludes the IEEE IPR Office This concludes the IEEE IPR Office Patents Tutorial. Patents Tutorial.

We hope it helped to provide We hope it helped to provide a better understanding of patents.a better understanding of patents.