There is a fundamental difference between patents on names of certain technologies and the underlying technological invention itself. Name patents are discernible by the abbreviations ™ - Trademark or ® Registered Trademark. These abbreviations do not relate to the patents on technological inventions.
The patents on technological inventions can cover a period of either 6 or 20 years, from the date of application. In the patent application procedure for a time period of 20 years a novelty reserach is included, an extensive search and evaluation period of approximately 9 months. If the patent is registered for 6 years (patent registration), the patent is not evaluated and if another party decides to put objections forward to the registered patent, a novelty research still has to be carried out in order to avoid losing the patent. The application procedure for a time period of 20 years takes on average up to 4 years, but it may take even longer if objections are put forward by other parties.
Several institutions are involved in the administration and evaluation of a patent application. In most cases the applicant approaches a consultancy/company specialised in carrying out patent application. The consultancy/company then submits the application to one of the main organizations that handle patent registration, such as the European Patent Office and its North-American and Japanese counterparts. The umbrella organisation of these institutions is called WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) A world-wide patent application can be placed using the PTC (patent treaty corporation). There can be considerable differences between those organizations in the evaluation and registration procedures and associated costs of patent registration and handling.
In Europe the handling of patent application has been streamlined and standardised for all European patent applications. However, if the final registration of a patent has to be done in one country (or a number), this decision rests with the applicant. The necessity of this decision is a consequence of the basic definition of a patent - being a territorially limited right on a unique process/invention. If, for example, a patent is registered in only a number of European countries, it will not be protected in the United States. This right is, as stated earlier, also limited in time, the maximum number of years for technological patents being 20 years.
The Patent Offices that received the patent application, employ examiners (octrooigemachtigde), who evaluate the process/invention described in the patent application.
The examiner plays a most important role in checking the background of the invention against existing patents and knowledge. He can advise the patent applicant to alter or clarify the original patent description. However, it is not possible for the applicant to change the patent application in such a way as to extend the scope of the patent. After he has submitted a patent application, he may only further limit the scope of the process he wants to patent. The patent application must put the current invention into the context of existing processes and technologies. In so-called claims the applicant must show in which way the invention is of unique value.
A patent application is tested and evaluated on three main features: 1. Novelty - there has to be no prior publication in journals etc. on the invention/process. 2. Originality - the described process must have an added value compared to existing technologies or processes used to achieve the same purposes. The invention may be cheaper to realise, realise savings, etc. 3. Feasibility - the process/invention must be commercially exploitable - a process that, for example, could only work under different physical laws is not going to be patented.
Eighteen months after submitting the application (application date) the patent description is published, officially called Patent Application, and as such registered in the databases of the Patent Offices. Other parties (consultancies etc.) can get descriptions in their areas of interest on a regular basis. The publication makes it possible for those parties to react in a later stage on pending patents, and enables research institutions to conduct research on those inventions. However, it is not possible for those parties to use the process or invention described in the patent description in any commercial application.
After the examiner has evaluated the patent application in the novelty research and has established that a unique value can indeed be attached to the process/invention - and has given his advice on altering and/or clarifying the description text - the patent description is published anew and officially called Patent Specification. The patent is classified according to a world-wide classification system. As said earlier, the applicant needs to decide in what countries he wants to register his invention.
Other parties, such as other companies, may object to a patent application on the basis of the Patent Specification and may put forward their arguments to alter the patent registration or stop the registration process altogether.
The associated costs for the whole procedure are usually not dependant on the content of the patent application. For an extended patent registration (20 years) costs can be as high as €20.000. For registered patent, administration fees have to be paid, progressively increasing towards the end of the registration (protection) period. Patents rights can be sold, prices are subject to negotiations between the parties involved (the patent offices play no role in that).
Further information on patents and procedures can be found on the website of the European Patent Office: www.european-patent-office.org The databases of the European Patent Office, The World Intellectual Property Org. (PCT) and Japanese Patent Offcie are best accessed via www.european-patent-office.org/espacenet/info/access.htm