5 things everyone should know about patents

Understanding the points below is crucial before applying for a patent.

1. There is no worldwide or infinite patent

   A patent protection gives you exclusive right, but this right is limited both in territory and time. Unfortunately, there is no unlimited right coming with being an inventor, and there is no such thing as an international patent. As an inventor, you contribute your invention to the development of our world. In exchange, you obtain an exclusive right for a certain period of time. (This maximum period of time is usually 20 years.)

   If you stop paying the maintenance fees of your patent after 10 years, your patent will lapse. As a result, you will only have an exclusive right for 10 years. After the patent has lapsed, it can be freely used by others.

   A patent is valid in the country where you applied for it, it is not possible to have a patent for the whole world with a single filing. Fortunately a few agreements have been created in the past in order to unburden inventors of having to file in too many countries at the same time. So, there are routes such as European Patent and PCT, which help reduce costs at the filing stage. However, even a European Patent and a PCT application will result in a bundle of national patents at the end of the procedure.

   Consequently, if you need a patent in the United Kingdom for example, at a certain point you will have a national patent in the UK. However, you can get to a national patent valid in the UK through different routes, such as by filing a PCT application, a European patent application, or a Euro-PCT (European patent via PCT). Unitary patent slightly changes this rule, but it is not in force in the UK. Read more about the Unitary patent here.

   You have to carefully create an IP strategy and decide where you want to apply for a patent. Read more about this here: Where to file?

2. You cannot simply buy a patent

   Obtaining a patent is not the same as buying a computer. Even if you pay thousands of euros, your patent might not be granted if certain requirements are not met, for example inventive step is missing. Patent applications in most jurisdictions are examined rigorously (there are a few exceptions such as South Africa, Belgium or Luxembourg where applications are not examined); patents are only granted if both the invention and application fulfil the requirements. Thus, granting a patent is not automatic, and in most cases the active cooperation of the applicant (or his representative) is required.

   Not all application procedures end with granted patents.

3. Getting a patent takes years

   You should know that you will not get a patent in a week or month. A patenting procedure takes years. Unfortunately no patent attorney can estimate how long the procedure will last in your case, since it can really vary. The European patent procedure lasts 3-4 years in average. While there are countries where you can get a patent in a shorter period of time, the process is almost always more than a year.

4. Getting a patent costs a lot

   Filing a patent application is an investment. Again, of course, there might be some exceptions, but as a rule of thumb, you should expect to pay thousands of euros for a single patent. The costs can vary a lot depending on the patent attorney fees, the country where you filed, the length of the application, number of office actions, etc.

   For more information on patent costs and how to make money from your patent, read the following articles:

   • Costs of patenting

   • How to save money

   • European patent application timeline with expected costs

   • How to make money from your invention?

5. Every procedure is different, and the final decision is always up to the patent office

   The allowance of patents is not the decision of patent attorneys. While patent attorneys do everything they can to advise you, communicate with the examiners and fight for your patent, it is the patent office who eventually grants patents based on the patent law. Every case and every invention is different. Some applicants will experience a fast and streamlined procedure with maybe only one office action, while others might struggle more and have to spend more to get to the grant phase.

   However, the timeliness of the procedure is not in relation with the quality of the invention or patent. Usually, a weaker patent with smaller scope can be granted more quickly than a patent with broad claims.

Author: Zsofia Pintz
Published: August 2020
Updated: July 2023