60. Patent requirement, Chapter 1
Let's continue the discussion on “Introduction to Intellectual Property and Understanding Intellectual Property”. Among them, today we will look at “Patent Requirement 1”.
The patent law aims to “contribute to industrial development” by oriented toward reuse and protection of inventions. Therefore, a patent grants the right only to an invention that meets certain requirements. The prescribed conditions are called patent requirements, which can be broadly divided into procedural requirements, substantive requirements, and authorship requirements. First, the procedural requirements are those related to the procedure of a patent application, the substantive requirements are the requirements related to the characteristics or properties of the invention itself, and the authorship requirements are the conditions for becoming an applicant. If a factor is not met, patent registration may not be possible.
1. Substantial Requirements - Industrial Applicability and Formality of Invention
1) Formality of Invention: It refers to the requirements for the patented product to be recognized as the subject of protection under the Patent Act. This is to determine whether a product applied for an invention is applicable as defined in Article 2, No. 1 of the Patent Act.
The validity of the invention is a prerequisite for judging other patent requirements. In other words, unless the validity of the invention is recognized, the invention is rejected on the ground that it is not usable. Since an invention defined in the Patent Law is a "high-level" creation of the idea of technology using the "law of nature", the invention must first use a law of nature. It should be noted that discovery and invention are different concepts, and discovery is nothing more than recognizing existing natural laws or characteristics. Basically, discoveries are excluded from the subject of patents, but if the results are recognized for patentability, such as inventions for use, they are protected by the Patent Act. The following lists cases that do not fall under the validity of the invention.
a. Law of Nature itself: The idea of a technology using natural law is an invention, and natural law itself is not an invention.
b. Mere discovery and not creation: As stated earlier, discovery generally does not fall within the scope of invention.
c. Violation of the laws of nature: An invention must use the laws of nature, and an invention that violates the laws of nature is not recognized as a patent.
d. Not-using laws of nature: An invention recorded in a claim does not constitute an invention if it uses other laws than natural laws, such as economic laws, artificial promises, and human mental activity. In addition, even if the natural law is used in a part of the claims, in the case of an article that does not use a natural law as a whole, it is regarded as not using the natural law and is not protected by a patent.
e. Function: A function is not an invention because it can be transferred to a third party without objectivity as knowledge.
f. Simple presentation of information: If the main purpose is to present information, it is not protected by a patent
g. Aesthetic creation: Aesthetic effect itself is a creation that has a visual aspect. Ths it is subjectively evaluated and does not constitute an invention.
h. Computer program language and the program itself
i. When there is no repeatability
j. Unfinished Invention
2) Industrial Applicability: When the validity of the invention is recognized but if there is no industrial applicability, it is also not recognized as a patent. Representative types include medical practice, inventions that cannot be used for business, and inventions that cannot be realized in practice.
Today we learned about “Patent Requirement 1”. Next, we will discuss “Patent Requirement 2”.
*I am a student learning IP, not an IP expert. Translation is also a translator and my short English skills. I hope it will be helpful for those who do not have the relevant knowledge or who want to learn about IP.
*The above is what I learned from a book compiled by the Korean Intellectual Property Office and Korea Invention Promotion Association (published by Pakmungak) entitled “Introduction to Intellectual Property, Understanding Intellectual Property”.