#IPBasics – Patent of invention

As well as for Trademarks and design rights, a patent is a title deed, with the particularity of protecting a technical innovation. As a title deed, it is part of the company’s assets and significantly affects its valuation.

The caselaw concerning the technical nature is abundant. Schematically, a claimed object is legally considered technical when it includes concrete elements or hardware elements of the computer field.

The devices, methods, and compositions are unanimously considered as being technical.

Pure software is considered non-technical. One solution may be to argue about the advantages of software over the hardware.

Another subject of caselaw relates to the patentability relating to life (genetic sequences, protein, micro-organisms, transgenic plants or animals …).

The principle of patent is that the inventor communicates his innovation to advance society in terms of technological progress. In return, the society grants a legal monopoly over the innovation in question for a limited period, usually 20 years.

It is therefore important to quickly take advantage of this monopoly to generate revenues from innovation with the advantage that no competitor has the right to propose the same innovation. This makes the patent an effective legal weapon. In addition, patent revenues can be increased when customers know that the innovation has been filed for a patent. This makes the patent an effective commercial weapon.

The profitability of a patent is all the more important as the costs of obtaining and maintaining patents are important.

SOPERYAH IP