to patent and invention

to patent and invention
chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies spend a lot of money so that their employees burn midnight oil and come with great inventions, be it a novel drug treatment of heart disease or a process to manage large quantities of chemicals in the production of a plastic. you know, that patents are powerful when it comes against the competition. They also know that a patent grants exclusive rights to twenty years. So, after their patent, they should be smiling all the way to the bank ... right?

The answer is not always "yes." The competition will seek the dissolution of the patent and many opportunities to discredit the patent. When companies find out, five or ten years on the road, that their patent is invalid, then all that investment and the jobs associated with going down.

One possibility, a challenger could tear up the patent is that he could join in, you sell the patented invention before applying for a patent. The United States Patent and Trademark Office, as well as many other patent offices around the world, has strict rules and regulations for the registration of patents. Such a rule states that you must enter your patent within one year of selling your product or offering for sale. If you want to sell products abroad, you must have a patent in one or several European countries or Japan, for example. The European Patent Office has stricter rules than the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In Europe, you should file your patent first sale comes later.

Although the company aware of the invention can not wait more than a year to file the patent issue often comes when they actually start selling. This is because, in the modern economy, which are often several parties cooperate to cope with a new product. For example, a company may, on the financing for the implementation of research, while another company may agree to work in the laboratory. It may take several exchanges between the two companies, often over a period of 3, 4 or 5 years or more. Unbeknownst to the parties how the exchange might have triggered the legal sale date or date of offer.

Take the case of DNA patents, if the company has a patent on the DNA evidence for gonorrheae. The company develops, that the DNA in a sample of his agreement to partner and paid for it. But it waited 13 months to the patent file. The High Court in relation to patents in the city that the patent is invalid, because waiting too long. The laws relating to patents are very complex and therefore it would be wise to seek professional advice, when filing a patent, or if you consider the purchase of a company with patents or licensing a patent.

Xavier Pillai, Ph.D., a partner in the law firm Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd. in Chicago, IL, Phone: (312) -616-5600 or e-mail to xpillai@leydig.com. I help chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies against competition from a strong patent protection.