Obtaining a patent: the key steps

Once you have established that your invention meets the conditions for patentability, a patent application involves several important stages. The first involves compiling the text and illustrations for the patent application. This can be much more difficult than it sounds, as you need to ensure that you accurately and clearly describe the invention that you are applying to protect. Once the patent has been granted, it is only the invention described in that patent that you will have a right to. If you miss anything important out, then you may lose your rights with respect to the invention.

Once your application has been checked internally, it must then be submitted to the relevant national or regional patent office/s. The patent office will perform a search to identify relevant prior art and publish the patent application. It will also consider whether, based on the prior art identified, a patent can be granted ie whether the claimed invention meets the requirements for patentability. The results of this assessment will be communicated to the applicant as an examination report and the applicant will be invited to correct any deficiencies. If all the identified deficiencies are rectified to the satisfaction of the examiner, a patent will be granted. The granted patent then gives its owner a monopoly to prevent others from exploiting the invention in a country or given territory for a set period of time (generally 20 years).

How to draft a patent application

The text submitted as a patent application must comply with a clearly defined plan. In particular, it must contain a description of any relevant prior art, details of the invention itself and how to carry it out, accompanied by experimental results and, if applicable, drawings. In addition, a set of numbered claims is required. The claims are vital in that they define the scope of the protection that the applicant is requesting from the patent office. It is in the claims, for example, that you find the definition of the invention and the boundaries of the requested right.

Given the complex nature of the process, it’s advisable to entrust the creation of the text to a patent professional or IP consultancy such as Novagraaf. Such a professional may, upon request, also conduct a study of the state-of-the-art relating to the invention, and a patentability analysis prior to filing any patent application.

The patent professional will work in close collaboration with the inventor or their representative to prepare the text and drawings needed to comply with the requirements described above. In addition, they can complete the formalities surrounding the submission of the patent application to the competent authority and ensure that the file complies with the legal requirements for acceptance by the Patent Office, so that a submission date can be provided and the subsequent examination can proceed.

Novagraaf is an expert in preparing and editing patent application texts and executing the administrative steps, including submitting the patent application to the relevant patent office and defending the interests of the patent applicant in the course of the procedures at the patent office.

Submitting a patent application

The filing date of a patent application is extremely important, since only disclosures before that date may be cited as taking precedence in the patent office’s examination process. The date may also serve as a starting point for the 12-month priority period during which the patent applicant will take priority over other applicants when seeking to file the same patent in other territories. After the application has been submitted to the competent authority, the file is scrutinised in a search and examination process that revolves around two aspects: searching to identify relevant prior art and the compilation of an examination report based on an assessment of whether the claimed invention is patentable over the identified prior art. If deficiencies are found in the patent application these are communicated to the patent applicant in the form of an examination report. A time period for responding to this report will be set by the patent office. Novagraaf IP consultants have extensive experience in responding to such examination reports and are able to both advise on the most appropriate response, and prepare and file such responses.

Would you like to know more about how to obtain a patent?

Please contact us if you would like to receive any more information or guidance on obtaining a patent, if you would like us to help you obtain a patent, or if you want to receive more information on Novagraaf’s services in relation to patents in general. You can contact us via the form in the upper right-hand corner of this page.