Get to know what are the criteria for patentability.

What is PATENTABILITY CRITERIA FOR THE PATENT?

INTRODUCTION:

The Patent is granted by the sovereign of the country for the Invention claimed by the inventor(s) which gives him/her territorial rights for excluding others from making, using, selling, offering to sell or for importing. To get the granted Patent, which is essential for the enforceability, every country has its criteria to judge the invention. Usually, Novelty, Inventive Step/Non-Obviousness and Industrial Applicability are the common criteria for judging an invention.

BELOW ARE THE CRITERIA FOR JUDGING AN INVENTION:

For the Patent to be granted, an invention should be a product, or process that has:

1. Novelty:

   The invention must create new knowledge or product or process. It should not be anticipated by the document, granted Patent, published Patent, non-Patent literature or in any form which is already available in the public domain. It must be different from what is already known.
   
   
   
   

2. Inventive Step:

   The invention must have some creative input from the inventor. It should be something which is not expected by the person skilled in the art. If an inventor is solving some technical problem by inventing something and if the person skilled in the art who is from the same field is providing the same solution by using his acquired knowledge or by taking teaching, suggestion or motivation, in that case the technical solution provided by the inventor will not be considered as inventive in nature.
   
   
   
   

3. Industrial Application:

   Patents are granted to ensure that the inventor can exploit his/her invention freely, without the fear of competition. In this context, it is necessary that the invention is capable of being used and has industrial application. An invention should be used or manufactured in the form of a product or process.
   
   
   
   

4. Non-Patentable Subject matter:

   In addition, an Invention must relate to the patentable subject matter. Every country has its criteria to judge the Patentable subject matter. In India, the list of non-Patentable subject matters is specifically mentioned.
   For example: Frivolous invention or anything which is contrary to the natural laws, mere discovery, abstract theory, discovery of living or non-living things, discovery of new form of known substance, mere admixture, mere arrangement or re-arrangement, method of horticulture/agriculture, surgical process, mathematical/ business method, algorithm or computer program per se, mere scheme or rule, topology of integrated circuit, literary or artistic work, presentation of information, traditional knowledge or an invention related with atomic energy are not Patentable subject matter.
   
   
   
   

CONCLUSION:

From the above discussion, it is clear that the granted Patent requires lots of checks and clearances. Every Government judges the claimed invention by its established law or rule or criteria. Therefore, it is worth to check and follow the country-specific Patentability requirement in order to avoid the rejection of a filed Patent application from the Patent office.