Useful inventions are technical innovations in various fields that relate to a product (device). Let's try to find out the main questions regarding technical innovations.
Legal Protection
Let's start with the fact that an invention, utility model, industrial design receive state protection only after the patenting procedure is completed. What are the rules for granting legal support from the state to technical innovations? Only in the event that inventions, utility models are new, you can count on obtaining a state certificate of patent registration.
What is not an invention
You can get a patent for inventions, utility models if the innovation meets certain rules. Scientific discoveries, solutions, mathematical technologies, intellectual activity, as well as computer programs are not inventions. Useful inventions must be reproducible on an industrial scale. A patent is not issued for animal breeds, plant varieties,ICs.
Useful inventions are judged by technicians who are recruited by the patent office.
Procedure for obtaining a patent
Before contacting an organization that is engaged in issuing titles of protection, it is necessary to determine the degree of uniqueness. There are express methods for identifying the uniqueness of useful inventions. If you conduct such a check on your own, there is a high probability of obtaining an unreliable result. In our country, the title of protection is issued by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent).
Inventions, utility models, industrial designs can be checked for uniqueness by specialists of this organization. After receiving the results of the check, they will notify the applicant of the advisability of further going through the procedure for obtaining a patent. In case of revealing a low degree of uniqueness, experts advise the applicant to make adjustments to his invention and only after that prepare a package of documents for submission to the patent office.
What is required for the registration procedure
How to get a patent? A useful invention is subject to mandatory registration with a government agency. In order to become the legal owner of the registration certificate, you will have to be patient. There are two ways to submit documents. If you have enough free time to correspond with representatives of this organization, you can personally contact the department by providingfull package of documents.
Entrepreneurs prefer to use the second method, which involves the conclusion of a preliminary agreement with the patent office. The interests of the applicant will be represented by an employee of such an organization.
In addition to a special certificate giving the right to carry out activities related to registration actions, the specialist will represent the interests of the applicant in court in the event that Rospatent refuses to register the invention.
Documents
In order to register your useful inventions with Rospatent, there is a certain algorithm of actions. The applicant provides a detailed description of his technical invention, its black and white or color images, submits an application for registration, a sample of which can be taken from the state registration office itself. If a technical novelty has several authors, each of them is indicated in the application.
Also, a copy of the statutory documents is provided in the registration package if the invention is the result of the company's activities.
After all documents are accepted by Rospatent, the actual registration procedure begins. It implies a formal examination, which involves checking the uniqueness of the claimed invention (utility model) against various databases.
After its completion, the applicant receives a written notification of the results of such an analysis. If the outcome of this stage is positive, registration actionsongoing, substantive examination is being carried out. It involves the analysis of the feasibility of the proposed technical innovation. At this stage, the patent office invites technical experts who are competent in the matter under consideration.
The average duration of such registration actions is 10-14 months from the date of submission of the package of documents. After completion of all examinations, the applicant receives a patent for his technical innovation.
The term of this title of protection starts from the moment of registration of the application package of documents with Rospatent and is twenty years. If you do not apply for a patent extension in a timely manner, the invention will become publicly available, will lose legal support from the state from fraudsters.
Conclusion
Patenting is developed in European countries. Inventors, understanding the importance of this procedure, do not save material resources by solving these issues. Given the high cost of patenting, in Russia such events are not available to all inventors. Many of them do not realize the risk that arises in the absence of a patent for a model. At any time, competitors can use their invention without incurring any administrative or criminal liability.
