Most Common Problems

The process of protecting an invention with a patent requires special technical and legal knowledge. Many patent applications do not end successfully for a variety of reasons, for example:

• description in the application does not represent well the properties of the invention;
• the invention is not new – it was disclosed to the public or it has already been known and published in patent documentation prior to filing a patent application;
• the invention represents just an idea, a principle or a method, rather than a concrete technical performance;
• certain actions were in delay in the procedure.

The process of protecting an invention by registering a utility model, although much simpler and faster than the procedure for granting a patent, can also lead to unexpected misunderstandings, for example:

• limited subject matter of protection;
• registration right does not make the same legal effects as the patent granted on the basis of substantive examination;
• a utility model is not the right to make the basis of civil protection.

Also, applicants sometimes give up on further proceedings because, for example:

• they are not confident in the successful commercialization of their invention;
• they chose a wrong type of protection;
• they are not willing to invest or do not possess necessary funds for the costs required by the patent granting procedure;
• they are insufficiently acquainted with the system of protection of the invention to be able to solve problems arising in the patent granting procedure or the procedure for the registration of a utility model.

How to avoid problems?

• get information on the possibilities and the ways of protecting intellectual property;
• consider business sustainability of your invention;
• prepare a business plan for the commercialization of your invention, with an estimate of the costs of development, production, marketing, and adequate protection;
• do not show your invention in public prior to filing an application for a patent or a utility model;
• search through patent information to find out in time if there are any potential obstacles in obtaining protection.