Patent

Patent protects the intellectual property embedded in inventions. An invention might be a physical device, a machine, a process, or a composition of matter.

Patents protect the intellectual property embedded in inventions.

You cannot patent an idea. The idea needs to be fleshed out and realized before it can be patented. You also cannot patent an expressive work; instead, copyright protects expressive works.

Holding a patent gives the inventor time-limited, exclusive rights to produce and reproduce their inventions.

It gives them exclusive rights to sell, rent, and license their inventions to others. Competitors cannot simply copy or imitate the invention and sell it themselves, without violating the patent.

To be patentable, the invention must be novel, it must be useful, and its creation must have required some ingenuity; in other words, it cannot be something obvious that anyone could have envisioned or produced.

A patentable work can also be an improvement of an existing invention, as long as the improvement is novel, useful, and non-obvious.

According to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, 90% of patents are for improvements on existing patented inventions.

Basic Facts About How Patents Work in Canada

• The granting of patents goes to the first inventor who files an application. The patent office does not attempt to ensure that the patent goes to the person who created the invention. It goes to the person who files the application. In other words, the way you establish ownership of your inventions is by filing for a patent.
• Patent protection starts with the granting of the patent by the patent office and it ends 20 years after the filing of the patent application.
• Unlike copyright protection, patent protection applies only in the country in which an application is filed. Therefore, you must apply for a patent in every country in which you want patent protection.