What is the patent system all about?

• Disclosure
• Monopoly
• What sort of inventions are patentable?
• Why patent?
• What should i do first?
• What next?
• ... And if i want to proceed further?
• ... And if i do want to get national patents?
• Summary

You must file a patent specification that describes the invention sufficiently clearly that a person skilled in the field of the invention may apply the invention.

The right to stop others from making, selling or using the patented invention within the geographical limit of the patent. This monopoly is defined by the "claims" of your patent.

To be patentable, your invention must be:-

• New,
• Non-obvious, and
• Capable of industrial application (in some countries, methods of therapy are not patentable)

• To secure an interested manufacturer as a licensee
• To raise venture capital
• To protect your market
• To make money

• Understand that you are embarking on a high risk business venture
• Search the literature in the field to see your idea is new and non-obvious
• Check that your title to the invention is secure
• Ask yourself whether there is really a sufficient market to make the exercise worthwhile and identify the countries in which the market exists
• Develop the idea as far as you can without disclosing it publicly

• File an Australian provisional patent application (This establishes your patent position for 12 months and costs about $1,100.00)
• Try and develop commercial interest in your idea:-
• Present papers
• Approach a number of manufacturers in the field
• Build and trial a prototype
• Get peer support
• Have a patent search done (if this hasn’t already been done)

After 10 months from the filing of the provisional patent application, review the position and ask yourself "Is further expenditure justified?"

File a Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) within the 12 months life of the provisional application (this costs about $8,000.00 to file, covers in excess of 70 countries, and lasts about 18 months)

Alternatives are:

• An Australian complete application (costs about $2,000.00 to file, covers Australia only and lasts 16 years), and/or
• National applications in overseas countries (Costs vary greatly)
• Make renewed efforts to interest commercial collaborators
• Receive and respond to the International Search Report and Preliminary Examination Opinion issued in respect of your PCT application

After 15 months from the filing of the PCT application, review the position and ask yourself "Is further expenditure justified?"

File national patent applications in countries or regions of interest (such as USA, Europe, Japan, Australia). Costs of filing are roughly $5,000.00 per country. There are also prosecution and renewal costs through the life of the patent

Regularly review your patent portfolio and ask yourself, in respect of each country, "Is further expenditure justified?"

• Is the idea patentable?
• Novel
• Non-obvious
• Industrially applicable

• How does my cost benefit analysis look?
• Cost v (market size x risk)

• When is the right time to file?

• Start with an Australian provisional patent application
• Within 10 months of filing review cost benefit equation and decide:-
• Should I proceed?
• Where?

• File a PCT application or overseas patent application?

• At each step ask "Am I going to get a return on the next dollar I spend?"