General Enquiry: Are "Trials" also patentable?

Here you can find announcements regarding the EPO's patent information products and services, events and activities.

Please also feel free to ask questions and share information on general patent information matters.
Post Reply

blue & green
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2017 7:12 pm

General Enquiry: Are "Trials" also patentable?

Post by blue & green » Sat Dec 19, 2020 6:15 pm

hi,

I generally use scientific contexts at my patent applications. But while a patent application can include scientific contexts and references, not all of scientific contributions are patentable as familiar inventors and researchers know.

Here under this thread, I ask whether a description (combined or including scientific contexts) document could be patentable. Note please, in this mentioned document ,we will not provide optimisation, nor will we provide any test results (in fact,I mean no testing had previously been made in assumption). (This for instance might be a specific (new) machine or something like that)

Such mentioned devices / machines are amongst our studies.

Kind Regards

Conclusion with a note: I saw a notation responding to one of my questions, also in one of the emails taken from WIPO's staffes, explaining: that they had no mandate to give a legal advice to private persons or non-governmental bodies or entities and cannot provide assistance like professionals specialized in the field of intellectual property could provide, taking into account the specificities of an invention and give strategic advice, (so,I thought that that service would presumably by a fee,if so, ok, but we thought that this area was a forum (i.e. not only for communications between staffes and inventors, but also for the communication between inventors (and also nominators.)) I ask your kind understandings. Also, take please this point into account in case we don't forward some specific queries,how will you realise/detect unclarified or forgotten points? I mean we need each us for better improvements.


EPO / Innovation Networks
Posts: 724
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 3:36 pm

Re: General Enquiry: Are "Trials" also patentable?

Post by EPO / Innovation Networks » Tue Dec 22, 2020 10:25 am

Under the European Patent Convention (EPC), European patents are granted only for inventions which are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application. An invention can be, for example, a product, a process or an apparatus. The European patent system is based on the concept of absolute novelty, as is laid down in Article 54 EPC i.e. anything which has been made available to the public before the filing or priority date of a European patent application by means of a written or oral description, by use or in any other way can deprive an alleged invention of novelty. Under Article 54 EPC an invention is only considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art within the meaning of Article 54(2) EPC.

Potential applicants who require advice on patentability / novelty and the chances of obtaining a patent are recommended to seek advice from a lawyer specialised in intellectual property or a European patent attorney. A searchable database of professional representatives can be found :arrow: HERE.

For information on patentability, see the 'Guide for applicants: How to get a European patent' Chapter 3 and the 'Guidelines for Examination in the EPO' Part G.
Kind regards,

The Innovation Networks Team


Post Reply