Patent Requirements

So what are the requirements of patentability? There are 3 general requirements laid out by Section 11 of the Patents Act 1983:-
1. invention must be new
2. invention involves an inventive step; and
3. it is industrially applicable (it can be mass produced).

To determine whether or not an invention is patentable, it is far easier to look at the definitions of what is not patentable as listed in Section 13 of the same Act.

1. Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
2. Plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, other than man-made living micro-organisms, micro-biological processes and the products of such micro-organism processes;
3. Schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts or playing games;
4. Methods for the treatment of human or animal body by surgery or therapy, and diagnostic methods practised on the human or animal body.

If your invention meets these requirements, you may want to consider applying for a patent. It is pertinent to note that ‘new’ here means that the invention is not anticipated by prior art which includes everything disclosed to the public anywhere in the world and whether by use or written or oral disclosure.