Students
PATENTS
IS YOUR INVENTION PATENTABLE?
The vast majority of students taking part in the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition will not need to consider applying for a patent.
However, if your project comprises functional or technical aspects that are new and not an obvious development on what already exists, you should consider applying for patent protection.
For an invention to be patentable it must be:
1. Totally new (use Google and Yahoo, also free patent search products like espacenet and Google Patent)
2. Not obvious to a person who works in the technology field (usually an improvement with surprising benefits)
3. Capable of industrial application (e.g. manufacture)
4. Not be part of the excluded category, e.g. equipment specifically designed for human or animal torture!
Prior to making a patent application, it is unwise to make any public disclosure of your idea/invention, or to put it into use publicly, for example at the exhibition. The main reason for this is to protect the validity of the patent application.
If an invention is in the public domain it is considered ‘prior art’ and no longer patentable in most countries including the UK and ROI.
But please remember that there are real costs involved should you decide to apply for a patent, these initial costs are:
• the basic patent office fees (a few hundred euros/pounds depending on where you file the patent application e.g. the Irish Patent Office or UK Patent Office)
• the optional, but advisable, Patent Attorney fees, these can add another few hundred euros/pounds to the application (invention disclosure forms help reduce these costs)
Click here to read some further information on patents as well as some frequently asked questions.
