How to read a patent Karen Cur www

How to read a patent? Karen Curé www. techtransfer. ugent. be

Patent Application (A-doc) - After 18 months published - Search Report - English, French or German - Limited legal value www. techtransfer. ugent. be

Granted patent (B-doc) - Takes 3 to 7 years - Shorter than application - Translated in local language - Strong legal value www. techtransfer. ugent. be

Reasons to read a patent: - Scientific information - Prior Art - Company information - How to copy - Other players in the field - Are we free to produce / market? www. techtransfer. ugent. be

Why do we read a patent? PRIOR ART Is our invention still new? FREEDOM TO OPERATE Are we infringing? Consider the whole document (as any other publication) Consider the claims (description of the claims to interpret the claims) Legal status of the patent is Check legal status not important Check search report www. techtransfer. ugent. be

Different parts of a patent 1. Title page: Administrative data 2. Description: Scientific data 3. Claims: Juridical data www. techtransfer. ugent. be

TITLE PAGE - Title (product, method, process, use) - Abstract (“secret molecule”) - Applicant: owner of the patent - Inventors - First filing date: priority date - Publication number - main drawing www. techtransfer. ugent. be

INTRODUCTION - Technical field - Background information - Situation of the technical problem - Description of the most relevant prior art Scientific information www. techtransfer. ugent. be

INVENTION New and inventive - Solving drawback of prior art - Inventive step: “Surprisingly” First claim Other claims Most important advantages - other technical problems : “in a preferred embodiment. . . ” Practical info - Drawings, grafics, examples www. techtransfer. ugent. be

DESCRIPTION (details of the invention) • Explanation of the claims. • “Reservoir” of technical information, needed for amending claims. No scientific value www. techtransfer. ugent. be

THE CLAIMS • Legal interpretation (no scientific relevance) • Claims – Protection scope of different types of claims – Dependent and independent claims – Preamble + invention – Claim with different features – Difference between EP and US claims www. techtransfer. ugent. be

INVENTION (example) • Blue pigment in fish feed – Technical problem: • To colour fish fee blue not inventive • Blue pigment is surprisingly an anti-oxidant inventive www. techtransfer. ugent. be

CLAIMS Product Fish feed with blue pigment Process for a fish feed with blue pigment Method Use Method to prevent oxidation in fish feed Use of blue pigment in fish feed to prevent oxidation www. techtransfer. ugent. be

• 1. Feed for aquatic organisms characterised in that said feed comprises a blue pigment 2. feed according to claim 1, characterised in that said blue pigment is patent blue. 3. feed according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said feed comprises at least 50 mg/kg, preferably more than 100 mg/kg and most preferably more than 150 mg/kg of said blue pigment. 4. Method to prevent oxidation in fish feed characterised in that said fish feed comprises a blue pigment. www. techtransfer. ugent. be

• Feed for aquatic organisms, like fish and / or shrimp, wherein said feed comprises more than 50% lipids, of which said lipids comprises more than 30% highly unsaturated fatty acids characterised in that said feed contains a blue pigment. INVENTION Prior art www. techtransfer. ugent. be

• Feed for aquatic organisms characterised in that Said feed comprises : A. More than 50% lipids B. Vitamin C C. Blue pigment Infringement when: A+B+C or A+B+C+X No infringement when: A+B or A+C or B+C or A or B or C Infringement when: A+B+D when D is a logic equivalent for C www. techtransfer. ugent. be

EP US - Claim American model Feed according to claim 1 wherein said feed comprises > 2% blue pigment European model Feed according to claim 1 or 2 characterised in that said feed comprises at least > 2% blue pigment, preferably > 10%, more preferably > 20% and most preferably > 35% AND / OR Feed according to claim 1 wherein said feed comprises > 10% blue pigment Feed according to claim 1 wherein said feed comprises > 20% blue pigment AND Feed according to claim 1 wherein said feed comprises > 35% blue pigment OR ± 15 claims www. techtransfer. ugent. be ± 50 claims

Search Report • X- documents • 2 Y- documents • A documents Novelty Inventive step Same technical field Will the patent be ever granted? www. techtransfer. ugent. be Literature review

Why do you read a patent? - Scientific document Introduction + Invention - Company profile Title page - To know the process Examples - Copying Examples + legal status (claims) + SR - To know competitors Title page + invention + claim 1 - Freedom to operate Legal status + claims (description) www. techtransfer. ugent. be

PRIOR ART PUBLICATION - Scientific document - Info competitors - Info processes, products - Market information Legal status of the patent is not important FREEDOM TO OPERATE LEGAL DOCUMENT - You want to copy - You are accused of infringement Check legal status Check search report www. techtransfer. ugent. be

- Where to get patent documents patent databases: - Espacenet: free - Delphion: UGent - more databases incorporated - downloading documents: easier - statistics, graphics - patent alert system www. techtransfer. ugent. be