Thursday 22 June 2006

Protecting new concepts via patents

Earlier this morning I was talking to my mate, Ian, about a new idea for a business that I’d heard yesterday. During the conversation he mentioned that the Patent Office applies 3 key tests before registering any new concepts:
1. NOVELTY. How new is the idea?
2. OBVIOUSNESS. Is the idea blatantly obvious?
3. REDUCTION TO PRACTICE. Can you actually show how you have implemented an invention in a best form? If an invention cannot be actually "constructed" then it is not meant to be patentable.

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