patent

Documents conferring the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention for a limited period. Ideas are not eligible; neither is anything not new. In the UK, patents are granted by the Patent Office and, under the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, confer the sole right to make, use, license, or sell an invention for 20 years after registration.

The purpose of patenting is to encourage business to take the risk of breaking new ground; it also has the effect of spreading technological knowledge, because the details of the invention have to be made public.

The earliest known patent for an invention in England is dated 1449 (granted by Henry VI for making stained glass for Eton College). The UK Patent Office was set up in 1852, and is based in Newport, Wales. It protects patents (in the UK only) for 20 years, and also deals with designs and trademarks. The Patents Act 1977 requires that an invention should be new, should not be obvious, and should be capable of industrial application. In order to be registered it must also be accompanied by a specification. The British Technology Group (BTG) was set up in 1967 to protect and commercialize the inventions of research bodies such as universities and polytechnics.

The European Patent Office (established in Munich, with a branch in The Hague, in 1977) grants patents in 16 European countries (protection in each country being the same as provided by its own internal law). International patents come under the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1978. In 1998, 113,000 British patents were applied for. This represents a 13% increase on 1997.

In the USA the period of patent is 17 years. Each patent application is checked to ensure that it does not conflict with any other application, and applicants may be challenged to prove the precedence of their inventions. Until 1880 inventors had to submit models with their patent application. In 1987 the USA began issuing patents for new animal forms (new types of livestock and assorted organisms) being created by DNA research, recombinant DNA, and other forms of genetic intervention. The payment of $909.5 million by Eastman Kodak to Polaroid in 1990 was a record sum for infringement of patent.