(AMERICAN PATENT)
Procedure: The first step in getting a patent on an invention is writing a patent application. In this application, the inventor must disclose the invention in sufficient detail for the average skilled person to be able to reconstruct it. This way, anyone should be able to rebuild the invention and apply it himself once the patent rights run out.
Parts of Application:
A patent application typically consists of six parts:
1. A statement identifying the field of the invention, or the type of apparatus, device, method or other object it relates to.
2. An introductory portion, which describes what is known at the time of writing with respect to this field, and which identifies a problem, disadvantage or need that exists therein.
3. A brief description of the invention, stating the measures taken in the apparatus or method according to the invention, and the advantages or solutions it brings.
4. A detailed description, in the above-mentioned level of detail. This detailed description should mention all aspects of the invention. In any case, the description should fully describe all aspects of the invention.
5. A claim can be regarded as a definition of what the inventor is trying to claim as "his" invention. Claims can be defined in various categories, such as apparatus, arrangement, device, method, system, computer program, medicine, and so on.
6. An abstract, which gives a short description of what the invention is about. The abstract is not legally binding and does not serve to identify the scope in any way – that’s what the claims are for. The abstract is there to help readers quickly examine the relevance of the patent.
Publication:
A patent application is published 18 months after it has been filed. This way, the world is informed about the fact that a patent can be expected on that particular invention.
Until November 2000, the US patent office did not publish applications, but instead only published the granted patents. This meant that someone else using the invention would not have any time to take preventive action.
