Similarly, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was founded in 1967 to encourage innovative activity and promote intellectual property protection worldwide. WIPO administers around 21 international treaties in the area of intellectual property. One such arrangement governed by WIPO for international cooperation in patents is the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
It provides a process by which an applicant must submit only a single patent application. However, the PCT does not allow for the grant of a patent, and the sole responsibility for the assistance of a patent remains with the national patent offices. In 1995, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) entered into force and brought new dimensions and meaning to the multilateral defence and compliance of IP rights.
Simultaneously, one should keep in mind that patents can hold a great deal of value for start-ups because and can hold provisional patent online in India that help render the company’s asset to an investor.
The procedure to obtain the patent is time-demanding and takes money. For that reason, start-ups have to evaluate individual elements that can ascertain that if their innovation is in the purview of patent or not. Start-ups will have to comprehend and assess the following.
- Which and when the idea is patentable.
- How much data-requirement will be there while applying for the patent application?
- How proficient should the data be?
Table of Contents
Factors to ascertain the patentability:
Substance of your innovation.
While contemplating about the patent, you should consider that if your invention holds enough substance to obtain a patent or not because ideas by default are not patentable. The general rules of patentability depict that invention should be composition, matter, or a process that is novel, useful, and non-obvious.
Allowing disclosure.
First and foremost, the patent should offer enough elucidation to enable an individual who is an expert in the art to replicate the invention. This is known as ‘enabling disclosure.’ For instance, if you reckon that a time machine is a brilliant idea, but you cannot construct a workable elucidation of how you can build one, then you will not obtain a patent for that.
Data desideratum for patents.
Speaking realistically, if you think you have something unique and novel to offer, which is useful and non-obvious. Still, you only possess some preliminary data or your product’s crude prototype; then it would be worth submitting in a Canadian patent application or U.S. provisional patent application.
A U.S. provisional patent application would offer you 1 year to construct more data before your submission for a non-provisional patent. You should keep in mind that your polished data cannot be utilized to widen the ambit of your initial provisional application – only, it can offer more robust support.
The commercial value that has been labelled to your innovation or invention.
Here, the next crucial consideration once you register a new company would be whether your invention has commercial potential and if it is worth a patent application or not. In assessing the commercial potential of your innovation, take heed of its advantages and its disadvantages before allocating a remarkable amount of time, energy, resources, and money to pursue a patent application. Commercial potential contains the possibility of licensing your invention or innovation to a company that needs it for a product or a process.
Safeguarding a patent
The remaining factor very crucial factor is that of protecting your patent. It is vital to evaluate while submitting that whether you would be able to safeguard your patent or not. Try to measure if others can originate a workaround or if your biggest market would lie in a country where you might face trouble against policing violators.
If you are not confident after your assessment of whether your innovation or invention has commercial potential, carry out a patentability search. This can provide you information about what is already in the market and whether those listed products have had their fair share of commercial success.
Conclusion:
As with the factors mentioned earlier, you and your start-up can ascertain your innovation or invention’s patentability. Provide enough attention to all of them before filing the patent application so that it can deliver the desired results in your favor.