Patent rights cover new inventions, in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial application.

An invention shall be considered new if it does not form part of the state of the art, which comprises everything, inside or outside the country, made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way, before the date of filling of the patent application.

An invention shall be considered involving an inventive step if it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.

An invention shall be considered susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture, fishing and handicraft.

A national patent confers on its owner the exclusive right to exploit the patented invention in Angolan territory.

Patents are a statutory right. The granting of patents is required by the Argentine Constitution and by different international documents, particularly the Trips Agreement. Patent rights imply an exclusive right to exploit a process or a product. The Argentine Patent Law defines the limits of these exclusive rights, on the basis of the provisions of the Trips Agreement.

A patent is a statutory right that must be applied for and that may be granted following examination. An owner of a granted patent for a product has exclusive rights to:

i. Make, hire, sell or otherwise dispose of the product;

ii. Offer to make, sell, hire or otherwise dispose of the product;

iii. Use or import the product; and

iv. Keep the product for the purpose of doing any of the above.

An owner of a granted patent that is a method or process has exclusive rights to use the method or process, or exercise any of the above exclusive rights in respect of a product resulting from such use.

The owner also has an exclusive right to authorize another person to exercise the above rights.

There are currently 2 types of patents: standard patents and innovation patents. However, the innovation patent system was abolished on August 25, 2021. Existing innovation patents filed on or before August 26, 2021, or divisional innovation patent applications claiming priority from an application filed prior to August 26, 2021, that undergo examination and are certified will continue in force until they expire.  The absolute expiration for all innovation patents is August 26, 2029 (ie, 8 years after the abolition date).

To be patentable, an invention must be a manner of manufacture, novel, involve an inventive step (or innovative step for innovation patents), useful, and not have been secretly used.

Patents are granted on technical inventions which are novel and commercially usable. Additionally, those inventions must not be obvious to industry experts, according to the current state of the art.

The patent owner has an exclusive right to produce, place onto the market, offer for sale and use the claimed invention.

A patent shall confer on its owner the right to prevent all 3rd parties not having his consent:

• From making, offering, putting on the market or using a product which is the subject matter of the patent, or importing or stocking the product for those purposes.

• From using a process which is the subject matter of the patent or, when the 3rd party knows, or it is obvious in the circumstances, that the use of the process is prohibited without the consent of the owner of the patent, from offering the process for use in Belgian territory.

• From offering, putting on the market, using, or importing or stocking for those purposes the product obtained directly by a process which is the subject matter of the patent.

An invention is eligible for patent protection if it is:

• New
• Inventive
• Capable of industrial application

An invention is new if it does not fall within the relevant state of the art. It is inventive if it would not be obvious to a skilled technician. Finally, the term industrial application is broadly construed and includes agriculture.

The novelty of an invention is not jeopardized if the invention was disclosed to the public in the course of 6 months prior to the filing of the application and it is due directly or indirectly to:

• An obvious abuse in relation to the applicant.
• The invention being shown at an exhibition organized by the public authorities or an official international exhibition.

In the latter case, the applicant shall declare, when submitting their application, that the invention was actually disclosed during an exhibition and furnish a relevant certificate.

In order to benefit from the priority right, registrations must be carried out before the end of the 13th month following the date of the first registration (priority date). In addition, the applicant must make a "statement of priority" when applying.

Any person who, prior to the patent application or the priority date, used or possessed the patented invention in good faith on Belgian territory is entitled to continue the exploitation of the invention, notwithstanding the existence of a patent granted to a 3rd party.

Patent protection may be granted to:

• Inventions that present novelty, inventive activity and industrial use.
• Utility models if the objects (in whole or in part) are for practical use, have industrial use, present a new format or pattern that involves an inventive act and results in a functional upgrade in its use of manufacture.

Patents grant the right to prevent 3^rd parties to produce, use, offer for sale, sell or import with such purposes the claimed invention.

Patents grant the right to exclude others from making, constructing, using and selling to others to use the claimed invention.

An invention is defined by the law as any solution to a technical problem that gives rise to an industrial activity. It may consist of products or processes in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, inventive and capable of industrial application. Patents are considered inventive if, for a person normally skilled in the concerned technical field, the solution for which the patent protection is sought is not obvious. The law expressly excludes certain inventions that cannot be patented (eg, plant varieties, mathematical methods and financial plans).

The owner of a patent for an invention has the exclusive right to produce, sell or market, in any form, the product or object of the invention and, in general, to carry out any other type of exploitation thereof. In process patents, this protection is extended to products obtained directly by that process. The owner may not prevent 3rd parties from marketing the product covered by the patent if they have acquired it legitimately after that product has been lawfully introduced into the commerce of any country by the owner of the right or by a 3rd party with the owner's consent.

Once registered, the invention should visibly bear the patent number, either on the product itself or on the packaging, and the expression "Patente de Invención" or the initials "P.I.”, except when this is not possible due to the nature of the invention. The omission of this does not affect the validity of the patent, however it does deprive the holder from enforcing criminal actions.

Patents are a statutory right granted for protection of invention-creations include 3 categories:

• Inventions
• Utility models
• Designs

Patents grant the rights to exclude others, for commercial purposes, from:

• Manufacturing, using, offering to sell, selling or importing the patented goods
• Using the patented method, or using, offering to sell, selling or importing products made directly through use of the patented method
• Manufacturing, offering to sell, selling or importing the goods covered by a design patent

Decision 486 of 2000 states that a patent is a right granted to an inventor to exclusively exploit the claimed invention, preventing any third party from manufacturing, selling or using such invention without the inventor's prior consent. Patents are comprised of 2 main groups: invention patents and utility model patents.

Invention patents protect any new product or process. Invention patents must (i) be innovative, meaning that the invention is not known, verbally or in writing, exploited or commercialized before the request is filed; (ii) have an industrial application, meaning that the invention can be reproduced on an industrial scale; and (iii) have an inventive level, meaning that the invention is not obvious or clearly derived from the current state of the art.

Atility model patent, according to Article 81 of Decision 486, is:

“…any new form, configuration or arrangement of elements, of any artifact, tool, instrument, mechanism or other object or of any part of it, which allows for a better or different operation, use or manufacture of the object that incorporates the same, or that gives it any utility, advantage or technical effect that it did not have before.”

Based on the foregoing, patents on utility models must only meet the conditions of being innovative and having an industrial application, and they do not require an inventive quality. Therefore, a utility model patent is a minor invention considering its degree of inventiveness. As such, utility models patents only include inventions of products and not procedures, as inventions do.

Any legal or natural person may file for a patent and, if different people made the same invention or utility model jointly, the right to the patent will be common to all people involved.

Patents grant the exclusive right to use the invention, to authorize others to use the invention or to assign the patent to others.

Statutory right granted consistent with mandate in the Danish Patent Act. The invention must be new and differ significantly from what was known at the filing date of the patent application.

Patent right owners are granted the exclusive right to exploit the invention commercially.

Utility models may be considered as an alternative to protection of industrial rights.

Patent protection is offered for inventions that are new and industrially applicable. It is required that the invention significantly differs from what was known at the date of filing.

Patents are an industrial property title relating to an invention and granting to its owner an exclusive right of exploitation or use.

The patent owner may, at any time, waive the patent or file a request for limitation of said patent.

Patent rights in Germany are available for technical inventions in 2 different aspects:

• As a patent which is examined by the German Patent and Trademark Office or the European Patent Office before grant
• As a utility model that is not specifically examined before registration

The German Patent and Trademark Office still only grants German patents. However, as of June 1, 2023, it will be possible to apply for a patent that is valid not only in Germany, but also in almost the entire European Union. In fact, when filing a European patent application, the patentee can apply for unitary effect. With such unitary effect, the European patent will no longer be treated as an individual national patent, but as a single patent with a scope of protection for more or less the entire European Union, including Germany. Please note that the patentee has the choice of filing a standard European patent as a bundle patent or additionally filing a request for unitary effect. 

Irrespective of whether the patent is filed with the German Patent and Trademark Office or the European Patent Office, the patent is handled as a national patent and therefore only grants protection for Germany (if Germany is one of the designated contracting states of the respective European patent). The same teaching can only be claimed in 1 patent as "double patenting" of the same teaching is not permitted.

The scope of protection is basically the same for both rights, with the exception that a patent can cover an apparatus and a method whereas a utility model only covers apparatus claims but not methods. Further, differences between patents and utility models lie mainly in their duration and in the ways to attack their validity.

In regard to products, the patent and the utility models both grant the right to exclude 3rd parties from making, offering for sale, putting on the market, using, importing or possessing products that include the claimed invention. In regard to methods, the patent grants the right to exclude 3rd parties from applying or offering a protected method, but also to offer and market products directly resulting from such protected methods (eg, a product manufactured in an infringing production process).

A patent gives the inventor an exclusive right to use their invention. A patent protects the invention by giving the inventor a legal right to prevent others from manufacturing, using, selling or importing the patented invention.

An invention is patentable if it is capable of industrial application, is new and involves an inventive step. An invention is new if it does not pertain to the state of technical knowledge. An inventive step shall mean an activity that is not obvious to an expert in the view of the state of technical knowledge. An invention is deemed susceptible of industrial application if it can be produced or used in any branch of industry or agriculture.

Registration is required. Patent protection commences upon publication of the application, with retroactive effect to the date of application.

The patent holder has the exclusive right to exploit the invention. In the framework of this, the patent holder may prohibit, among others:

• To manufacture, use, distribute, offer to distribute, store or import the patented product
• To use the patented method, or to offer it for use
• To manufacture, use, distribute, offer to distribute, store or import the product created with the patented method

In relation to the moral rights, the inventor has the exclusive right to publish its invention before the filing of the patent application. The inventor is also entitled to be informed of the invention's documentation as the inventor thereof.

Patents are a statutory right granted under the Patents Act, 1970 (Patents Act) to an "invention". A patent granted under the Patents Act confers upon the patentee the following rights:

1. Product patents: the exclusive right to prevent 3rd parties from the act of making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing for those purposes the product in India without the consent of the patentee.
2. Process patents: the exclusive right to prevent 3rd parties from the act of using that process and from the act of using, offering for sale, selling or importing for those purposes the product obtained directly by that process in India.

Under Patent Law, a patent is an exclusive right granted by the government to an inventor for their invention in the field of technology for a certain period of time in operating such invention or granting a consent to other party to do so. Patent may be granted for an invention that is novel, involves inventive steps and can be applied in an industry. A simple patent may be granted for an invention that is novel or that is a development result from an existing process or product and can be applied in an industry. An inventor may be conferred either a patent (paten) or a simple patent (paten sederhana) depending on the nature of the invention.

Patents are a statutory right in Ireland.

The following conditions must be met in order to obtain patent protection for an invention:

• It must be new
• It must be capable of industrial application
• It must involve an inventive step (being an invention that is not obvious to a person skilled in the particular area of technology, having regard to the state of the art) and
• It must not be the subject of an excluded category (including discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods, aesthetic creations, business method, computer programs and the presentation of information)

In general, it is not possible to get a patent for software. However, there may be scope to obtain patent protection for an invention requiring use of software if the software used provides a technical solution to a technical problem.

The owner of a patent has exclusive rights to exploit the patented invention. Any person who makes, uses, sells or imports the patented invention must first obtain the consent of the patent holder.

The protection granted under Irish patent law is territorial. A patent granting protection in Ireland can be obtained from the Irish Patents Office, through the European Patent Convention (a centralized process for granting a suite of independent, nationally enforceable patents in Europe) or under the Patent Co-Operation Treaty.

Patents are a statutory right in Ireland.

The following conditions must be met in order to obtain patent protection for an invention:

• It must be new;
• It must be capable of industrial application;
• It must involve an inventive step (being an invention that is not obvious to a person skilled in the particular area of technology, having regard to the state of the art); and
• It must not be the subject of an excluded category (including discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods, aesthetic creations, business method, computer programs and the presentation of information).

In general, it is not possible to get a patent for software. However, there may be scope to obtain patent protection for an invention requiring use of software if the software used provides a technical solution to a technical problem.

The owner of a patent has exclusive rights to exploit the patented invention. Any person who makes, uses, sells or imports the patented invention must first obtain the consent of the patent holder.

The protection granted under Irish patent law is territorial. A patent granting protection in Ireland can be obtained from the Irish Patents Office, through the European Patent Convention (a centralized process for granting a suite of independent, nationally enforceable patents in Europe) or under the Patent Co-Operation Treaty.

A patentable invention must be novel and useful, be capable of use in industry and involve an inventive step. Patent protection encompasses the following forms of exploitation, for the applicable term:

• In respect of an invention that is a product –production, use, offer for sale, sale, or import for purposes of 1 of the aforesaid acts. 
• In respect of an invention that is a process – use of the process.

A patent holder is entitled to prevent any 3rd party from exploiting the invention for which the patent has been granted without their permission, either in the manner defined in the claims or in a similar manner.

Patent protection is available to inventions (products and processes) that are deemed to be new, involve an inventive step and are suitable for industrial application.

From the publication of the patent application, the patent owner has the exclusive right to forbid 3rd parties from producing, using, trading in, selling or importing the product (should the invention be a product) or applying the method, or using, trading in, selling or importing the product that is directly obtained from the method (should the invention be a method).

Novel solutions capable of significantly improving existing products may be awarded protection as utility models.

Japanese law protects inventions (the highly advanced creation of technical ideas utilizing the laws of nature), utility models (the creation of technical ideas utilizing the laws of nature), and designs (shapes, patterns or colors, or any combination of these of an article having visual aesthetic attributes), and plant varieties.

A patent holder has the exclusive right to produce, use, transfer, sell, lease, offer for sale or lease, export or import the patented invention for business.

For utility and design patents and utility model rights, registration with the Japan Patent Office is required.

An invention is eligible for patent protection if it satisfies 3 conditions:

• It is new
  • An invention is new if it does not fall within the relevant state of the art –meaning everything made available to the public before the date of filing of the patent application.

The novelty of an invention is not jeopardized if the invention was disclosed to the public in the course of 6 months prior to the filing of the application and it is due directly or indirectly to (a) an obvious abuse in relation to the applicant or (b) the invention has been displayed at an exhibition organized by the public authorities or an official international exhibition. In the latter case, the applicant shall declare, when submitting their application, that the invention was actually disclosed during an exhibition and furnish a relevant certificate.

• Inventive 
  • It is inventive if it, in regard to the state of the art, is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.
• Capable of industrial application
  • Finally, the term "industrial application" must be understood very widely as being able to be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture.

Patent protection requires the successful completion of a patent application process.

• A priority right is granted by the person who has filed an application for a patent for the same invention. In order to benefit from this priority right, registrations must be carried out before the end of the 12th month following the date of filing of the first application. In addition, the applicant must make a "statement of priority" when applying.
• Such priority right provides that the date of priority shall be the date of filing the application.
• Any person who, in good faith, prior to the patent application or the priority date, possessed in Luxembourg a justified right in the prior use of the patented invention is entitled to continue the exploitation of the invention, for personal use, notwithstanding the existence of a patent granted to a 3rd party.

The patent shall confer on its owner the right to prevent all 3rd parties not having their consent:

• From making, offering, putting on the market or using a product that is the subject matter of the patent, or importing or stocking the product for those purposes.

• From using a process that is the subject matter of the patent or from offering the process for use in Luxembourg territory, or when the 3rd party knows, or it is obvious in the circumstances, that the use of offering of the process is prohibited without the consent of the owner of the patent.

• From offering, putting on the market, using, importing or stocking for those purposes the product obtained directly by a process that is the subject matter of the patent.

• Supplying or offering to supply, in Luxembourg territory, a person other than a person entitled to exploit the patented invention the means of implementing, in that territory, the invention with respect to an essential element thereof where the 3rd party knows, or it is obvious from the circumstances, that such means are suited and intended for putting the invention into effect.

Regarding inventions, the right granted is a patent; regarding utility models and industrials designs, the right granted is a registration.

Subject to the provisions of Articles 53 to 60 of the Dutch Patent Act of 1995, a patent shall confer on its owner the exclusive right:

• To make, use, put on the market or resell, hire out or deliver the patented product, or otherwise deal in for their business, or to offer, import or stock it for any of those purposes
• To use the patented process in or for their business or to use, put on the market or resell, hire out or deliver the product obtained directly as a result of the use of the patented process, or otherwise deal in for their business, or to offer, import or stock it for any of those purposes

An invention is eligible for patent protection if it satisfies 3 conditions:

• It is new (ie, novel)

  • An invention is new (ie, novel) if that invention was not already known in the state of the art.

• Inventive
  • It is inventive if it would not be obvious to a skilled person based on the state of the art.
• Susceptible of industrial application

  • Finally, the term “industrial application” must be understood broadly and can include agriculture.

The novelty of an invention is not jeopardized if the invention was disclosed to the public within 6 months prior to the filing of the application and it is due directly or indirectly to:

• An apparent abuse in relation to the applicant

• The invention being shown at an exhibition organized by the public authorities or an official international exhibition

n order to benefit from the priority right, registrations must be carried out during the 12 months from the filing date of the application (ie, priority date).

Anyone in the Netherlands (or the Netherlands Antilles) who had already started making, using or preparing to use an invention by the time another person filed a patent application for it, is allowed to continue using the invention. This right, known as the "right of prior use," also applies if the patent applicant has a priority claim under Article 9(1) of the Dutch Patent Act or Article 87 of the European Patent Convention. However, this right does not apply if the person gained knowledge of the invention from the patent applicant's work, such as their descriptions, drawings or model.

Patents are a registered right that protects inventions that are a "manner of manufacture" (including chemical compounds, products, systems, processes and methods), are novel, involve an inventive step and are useful.

Patents grant the right to exclude others from making, hiring, using, selling, offering for sale or hire, offering to make, and importing the claimed invention.

Overview

A patent confers a monopoly to exploit an invention. This monopoly is important to inventors, including, for example, technicians, technologists, medical and space scientists, lecturers, researchers, physicists, pharmacists, agriculturists, computer engineers and electric, civil and mechanical engineers.

A patent is territorial in nature, which means that it is only enforceable in the territory in which it is granted. To qualify for protection in Nigeria, the invention must be new or constitute a non-obvious improvement of an existing invention, result from inventive activity and be capable of industrial application. The key attributes of the requirements for newness and capability for industrial application are as follows:

The term “invention” is not defined in the Patents and Designs Act for the purposes of granting a patent.

• An invention is deemed to be new if it (a) does not form part of the state of the art or relevant field of knowledge anywhere in the world and (b) is not disclosed to the public within 6 months prior to the date of the application for registration, unless the disclosure was by an official or officially recognized exhibition or experimentation required to prepare the patent specification.
• An invention is deemed to result from inventive activity if it (a) does not follow obviously from the state of the art of the art or field of knowledge to which the invention relates or (b) differs from previous efforts in the relevant field of knowledge.
• The inventor is the statutory inventor or the person who is the 1st to file the application for the grant of a patent.

Nature of rights

Once granted, the inventor acquires a monopoly in respect of any of the following acts:

• Where the patent is in respect of a product; the making, importing, selling or using the product; or stocking it for the purpose of sale or use. 

• Where the patent is in respect of a process, applying the process or performing, in respect of a product obtained through the process, any of the acts mentioned above.

The scope of protection is determined by the claims contained in the application for registration.

Upon registration, patent protection is available for reproducible inventions of a technical character with a technical effect. The inventions must be "new," be industrially applicable and have sufficient "inventive step."

Patent right owners are granted the exclusive right to exploit the invention commercially.

The exclusivity right for inventions, utility models and industrial designs is granted through registration.

Invention Patents: New product or procedure that solves a technical problem and comply with patentabilty requirements, novelty, high invention level and industrial application. For example a solar engine, a method to purify polluited air, a pharmaceutical product.
 
Utility Models Patents: Any new form or configuration of elements of some artifact, tool, instrument, mechanism or other object or of any part of it, that allows a better or different operation, use or manufacture of the object that incorporates or that provides any utility, advantage or technical effect that previously did not had. Utility models will be protected by patents following the same registration procedure but the protection with exclusive rights is lower because it does not have the invention level required for invention patents and the 20 years exclusivity rights. For example a corrugating machine that makes wavy forms.
 
Industrial Designs: Industrial designs are totally different from invention patens and utility model patents. Industrial design is the particular appearance of a product that results from any meeting of lines or color combination, or from any external form two-dimensional or three-dimensional, line, contour, configuration, texture or material, without changing the destination or purpose of said product. Form example designs of cars, footwear.

A patent is an exclusive right that allows the inventor to exclude others from making, using or selling the product of their invention during the life of the patent.  An invention patent is a government-issued grant, bestowing an exclusive right to an inventor over a product or process that provides any technical solution to a problem in any field of human activity which is new, inventive and industrially applicable.

An invention is patentable in Poland if it is novel, has an inventive step and is industrially applicable. There are certain categories of inventions that cannot be patented, such as discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods, schemes, rules and methods concerning mental or economic activity, as well as games and computer programs as such (ie, computer programs that do not cause any further technical effects as a result of their operation). Additionally, some technical solutions are excluded from patent protection for ethical reasons.

Under Polish law, technical solutions may also be protected as utility models. In order to be protected as a utility model, a technical solution should be new, useful, and refer to the shape, structure or durable assembly of an object.

A patent application may be converted into a utility model application (but not vice versa). Patents and protection rights to utility models are both granted by the Polish Patent Office.

A patent and a protection right to a utility model give the holder the exclusive right to use them in a commercial and professional way in the territory of Poland. They forbid any 3rd party from making, using, offering, marketing or importing a product incorporating the invention or the technical solution that is the subject of the right to a utility model. In the case of a patent, 3rd parties are prohibited from applying the process that is the subject of the patented invention and from using, offering, marketing or importing products obtained by means of this process.

Patent rights cover new inventions, in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial application.

An invention shall be considered new if it does not form part of the state of the art, which comprises everything, inside or outside the country, made available to the public by means of a written or oral description, by use, or in any other manner, before the date of filling of the patent application.

An invention shall be considered involving an inventive step if it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.

An invention shall be considered susceptible of industrial application if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture.

A national patent confers on its owner the exclusive right to exploit the patented invention in Portuguese territory.

Patents are a statutory right. Patents grant the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale and importing the claimed invention.

Patent protection is available for inventions that are deemed to be new, not obvious, and suitable for application in the industrial field.

From the grant of the patent, the patent owner has the exclusive right to forbid third parties from producing, using, trading in, selling or importing the product (should the invention be a product) or applying the method, or using, trading in, selling or importing the product that is directly obtained from the method (should the invention be a method).

There are separate legal provisions on protection of utility models and industrial designs, which have the basic regime of legal protection similar to that granted to inventions, but with certain distinctions.

A patent may be issued on an invention, if it involves an inventive step, and is capable of industrial application. The invention may be a product, process or related to either.

Applications for registration of patents are made to KACST.

A patent is a right granted to the owner of an invention that prevents others from making, using, importing or selling the invention without their permission. For an invention to be patentable, it must be new, involve an inventive step and be capable of industrial application. 

The owner of a patent has the exclusive right to use the invention, to grant consent to the use of the invention, to transfer the patent to another person or to pledge the patent as collateral.

Patents are examined and granted by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). A patent may be granted for a new and industrially applicable invention. The industrial applicability requirement is often discussed when an invention is directed to the treatment of humans or involve the human body as an indispensable element, such as surgical methods and methods of treatment of humans.

Inventions that are likely to injure public order, morality or public health are unpatentable in Korea.

Further, under the PA, technical information made public through the Internet may be also regarded as prior art.

In Spain, both inventions and procedures are patentable. The 3 main requirements to obtain a patent are that the invention must:

• Be new (ie, novel)

• Involve an inventive step and
• Be capable of industrial application.

Scientific discoveries or theories, mathematical methods, literary, scientific, artistic works and any other aesthetic creations, among others, are not considered patentable. Neither is it possible to obtain a patent for an invention if it is a new animal or plant variety, a method of medical treatment or diagnosis, a software item or inventions whose commercial exploitation is contrary to public order or morality.

Upon registration, patent protection is available for inventions that are susceptible of industrial application, provided that the invention is new and significantly differs from what was known at the filing date of the patent application.

Patent right owners are granted the exclusive right to exploit the invention commercially.

Patents protect novel, non-obvious and industrially applicable technical inventions.

Patents grant the right to exclude others from using the invention commercially, in particular for manufacturing, storing, offering, placing on the market, importing, exporting and carrying in transit.

A patentee has an exclusive right to prevent others from exploiting the patent without the patentee's consent. Exploiting means the acts of manufacturing, offering for sale, selling, using or importing the products or services containing the patent.

Patents in Ukraine protect exclusive rights to inventions and utility models. Products (eg, devices, substances, strains of microorganism, cell cultures of plants and animals) and/or processes may obtain protection as inventions. The devices and/or processes may obtain protection as utility models.

Ukrainian laws stipulate the following patentability requirements for objects eligible for patenting:

• Inventions – including novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability, and
• Utility models – including novelty and industrial applicability.

The rights to inventions and utility models are subject to registration with the Ukrainian IP Office in order to be protected in Ukraine.

The owner of the patent to invention or utility model has the exclusive right to prohibit 3rd parties from producing, using, selling or importing the product or applying the methods that are protected with the patent.

When it comes to product patent, the right to exploitation includes the manufacture, sale and use of the product or its import for the purpose of manufacture, sale or use.

In the case of industrial process or method patent, the right to exploitation include the use of the process or method itself as well as the rights to use or sell the product obtained directly by means of the process or method.

In the case of a process or method patent the right to exploitation includes the right to:

• Use the process or method
• Use the product that is obtained directly by means of the process or method
• Offer for sale the product that is obtained directly by means of the process or method
• Sell the product that is obtained directly by means of the process or method
• Import for any of these purposes the product that is obtained directly by means of the process or method

Rights of prevention do not extend to acts done for non-commercial or non-industrial purposes and do not limit what can be done with a product after it has been sold.

Patents are a registered right which may be obtained to protect inventions (which may include, for example, chemical compounds, products, systems, processes and methods). Designs are protected by means of design rights, not by design patents. To be patentable, an invention must:

• Be novel
• Involve an inventive step over the prior art
• Be capable of industrial application (which will be satisfied in almost all cases)
• Not solely consist of excluded subject matter (such as discoveries, scientific theories, mathematical methods, aesthetic creations, business methods and computer programs)

Therefore, business methods and computer programs are patentable provided the invention makes a technical contribution to the art over and above the fact it is a business method or computer program.

It is possible to apply for a patent within the UK through the national route, the Patent Cooperation Treaty or under the European Patent Convention (a centralized process administered by the European Patent Office).

A patent owner may prevent third parties performing certain specified activities in relation to products or processes embodying the invention, or products derived from a patented process, including manufacturing, offering for sale and using a product or using or offering for use a process knowing that such use is an infringement in the UK.

It is also an infringement to supply, or offer to supply in the UK, means relating to an essential element of the invention for putting the patented invention into effect in the UK where the supplier knows that the means are suitable for and are intended for that purpose.  

Patents are a statutory right, granted consistent with a mandate in the US Constitution. Patents grant the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale and importing the claimed invention.