A patent can protect the technical aspects of a new product or production process, provided they represent a new invention. An invention counts as new if it distinguishes itself from what was already known at the moment of applying for the patent’s registration.
Other conditions are that the invention should be innovative and industrially exploitable, that is to say: the invention should not be obvious to the expert, and should be exploitable in the area of industry, including agriculture.
Another possibility is to protect the outward appearance of a product as a design. However, if a product is deposited as a design, the invention may no longer be new at the moment of application for a patent. The same applies to design which are required to be new at the time of application.
Therefore, it is advisable not to go public before you have decided the manner and scope of protection.
It is important to collect information about protection before making your product generally known and/or having it deposited as a design.
We shall be pleased to give you some brief preliminary advice. The protection offered by a patent can be extensive. Your invention might come to be exploited in conditions which you had not foreseen yourself. And the protection may hold for 20 years.
Actually, an invention need not always be world-shattering. Improvement of existing techniques, production process, systems, et cetera, may be considered a sufficiently innovative invention. Do not hesitate, therefore, to get in touch with us for information!
An application for a patent calls for much expertise and experience. We shall be glad to bring you in contact with a patent agent equipped to assist you professionally.