When is an invention novel

The technical problem can be old or new, but in order to obtain a patent, the solution must be novel. Simply discovering something that already exists in nature, which we term a discovery, is not an invention. There must be a human activity involved.

An invention is not necessarily complex. Patents Types of patents. Home Patents Types of patents Invention patent. For example, data structures that are not claimed in combination with a computer or some type of computer-readable media are clearly outside of these four categories.

So is nonfunctional descriptive material, such as music, literary works, and compilations or arrangements of data. It is also clear that electromagnetic waves or signals do not fit into any of these categories, and therefore are not patentable. Finally, a claim to "software" that is not tied to a process or a physical machine such as a computer or mobile device would also fall outside the four statutory categories and therefore would not be patentable.

In order to avoid this problem, most experienced patent attorneys will take care never to claim software in the abstract, but will only claim software in the context of a computing machine or a process.

In addition to falling within one of these four statutory classes, an invention must also avoid a judicially created "exception" to patentable subject matter if it is to be considered a patentable type of invention. Recent case law has identified three different exceptions, namely abstract ideas, laws of nature, and natural phenomenon. The Supreme Court in Alice Corp. CLS Bank International analyzed these three exceptions in some detail. The "abstract idea" exception to patentable subject matter is particularly important for patents relating to software, mobile-device apps, and the Internet.

Many observers are of the opinion that a large precentage of software-related inventions are no longer patentable after the Supreme Court's explanation of the abstract idea exception. In order for an invention to be patentable, the invention must be considered to be new or novel. This novelty requirement states that an invention cannot be patented if certain public disclosures of the invention have been made. The statute that explains when a public disclosure has been made 35 U. Many innovations can be protected through intellectual property IP rights.

Inventions are the bedrock of innovation. An invention is a new solution to a technical problem and can be protected through patents. Patents protect the interests of inventors whose technologies are truly groundbreaking and commercially successful, by ensuring that an inventor can control the commercial use of their invention.

An individual or company that holds a patent has the right to prevent others from making, selling, retailing, or importing that technology. This creates opportunities for inventors to sell, trade or license their patented technologies with others who may want to use them. The criteria that need to be satisfied to obtain a patent are set out in national IP laws and may differ from one country to another. But generally, to obtain a patent an inventor needs to demonstrate that their technology is new novel , useful and not obvious to someone working in the related field.

To do this, they are required to describe how their technology works and what it can do. A patent can last up to 20 years, but the patent holder usually has to pay certain fees periodically throughout that year period for the patent to remain valid.

In practice, this means that if a technology has limited commercial value, the patent holder may decide to abandon the patent, at which point the technology falls into the public domain and may be freely used. Sign up for the alert service for learning events. Prior art does not need to exist physically or be commercially available.

It is enough that someone, somewhere, sometime previously has described or shown or made something that contains a use of technology that is very similar to your invention. A prehistoric cave painting can be prior art. A piece of technology that is centuries old can be prior art.

A previously described idea that cannot possibly work can be prior art. Anything can be prior art. An existing product is the most obvious form of prior art. This can lead many inventors to make a common mistake: just because they cannot find a product containing their invention for sale in any shops, they assume that their invention must be novel.