What is a patent for an invention?

The first question may have to be, what is an invention?

An invention is anything that solves a problem. A solution. Right after you grab your notepad, start drawing, scribbling and chewing the end in order to turn an idea into a concept: that is where you have an invention.

Now all you have to do is protect it.

What then is a patent? A patent is this broad right that an inventor is granted to be able to stop other people from having their way with the invention. Remember that copying is what drives mankind. We speak languages because someone spoke them and we imitated them. Copying is good for the development of mankind.

Being copied however is an inventor’s nightmare. It kills their business. It muddies their signature solution. It makes people forget who the original creator and supplier of the invention is. It erodes their market share because that market is now split between the inventor and the copycats.

This is where we thank the good ol’ State.

The State has set up intellectual property laws that protect creators of intellectual property. For patents, the State gives the inventor twenty years to enjoy their invention to the exclusion of other people. So now the inventor can freely manufacture, advertise, publish and sell the products or services of the invention. The inventor is free because they know that if anyone tries to tak advantage of the invention then that person can be stopped by law and even made to pay money for their sins.

But wait… There is a requirement:

For a patent to be granted, the invention has to be new. Not copied from a website in Australia, not taken off a Zimbabwean gadget, not a reproduction of a cool idea published in 1809.

It must be absolutely new.

Therefore, before even attempting to get a patent for the invention the inventor must conduct a search online to see if there are any prior publications that show inventions similar to or the same as theirs.

However, patent searching is a specialised field. It does not depend merely on how good the inventor is. The inventor is advised to consult a patent attorney to conduct the search and provide a recommendation.

A provisional patent application may then filed to start the journey to obtaining that patent!

Brian Albert Dube is a registered Patent Lawyer and Electronic Engineer specialising in Electrical, Electronic, Software and Mechanical inventions. Contact him on +27 (0)76 673 4288 and at admin@dubeiplaw.co.za.

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