Why are patents more than just “paper from the office”?
Patent as a business tool
A patent is a business tool. A tool that can help a company protect technology, increase the value of the company, attract investors, create a barrier to competition, or last but not least generate income from licenses.
This is why patents are among The most important tools for protecting innovationand often represent a major competitive advantage. The value of modern companies lies less and less in factories, machines or other tangible assets. The most valuable is often the one that cannot be “caught in the hand.” technology, research, data, unique technical solutions. And this is where intellectual property and patents come into play as one of its forms.
Any firm working to develop new solutions should at least have a basic understanding of what a patent means, how it works and why it can be strategically important.
Patent as a separate legal institute
A patent is a special legal institute through which the state grants its owner exclusive right to use the inventionand at the same time the right to prevent third parties from unauthorized use of it.
In the conditions of the Slovak Republic, a patent can be basically anything allowed by the patent law and the decision-making practice of the registry office, which is the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic.
The patent is the form of protection under industrial rights, which is granted to an invention in any technical field, subject to the fulfillment of three basic legal conditions - novelty, inventive activity and industrial applicability.
The owner of the patent gets the opportunity to prevent others from making, using or selling his invention without permission. The company gains access to new technical knowledge, and the patent owner has a time-limited monopoly on a particular invention (period of 20 years).
Patent as a value of the company
Thus, a patent is not just an “award” for a good idea. This is a very practical tool that can be of vital business importance.
First of all, the patent creates A barrier to market entry for competition. If a firm develops a unique invention, a patent can give ita significant advantage over the competition and prevent other entities from using an identical solution that is subject to protection.
Simultaneously significantly increases the value of the company. A strong patent portfolio can significantly increase a company's credibility and valuation.
The patent can be at the same time a separate source of income. The company does not have to use the solution exclusively on its own, it can grant licenseto a third party and thus generate additional revenue.
How to get patent protection
However, in order to obtain patent protection, the invention must meet Three basic legal conditions.
The first is Novelty.An invention 'candidate' for patent protection must not be part of the known state of the art at the date of filing of the patent application. The most common obstacles to innovation include, for example, presentations at conferences, publication of scientific articles, pitch decks for investors, or any public disclosure of the solution. In practice, it often happens that The company first introduces the technology to the world and only then begins to deal with its protection. At that point, however, it may be too late.
The second condition is inventive activity, which means that the solution must not be obvious to a specialist in the field.Thus, it is not enough just to make a cosmetic modification of the existing solution, there must be a qualitative shift from the current state of the art.
The third condition is industrial usability. The invention must be practically applicable in industry or economic activity, that is, it must have a real practical use.
As lawyers dealing with intellectual property law, in practice, we often come across the conviction of clients that a patent is a kind of “automatic protection”, that is, if I invent something = I have something. However, the reality is considerably more complicated.
Patent protection can only be obtained after filing a patent applicationwhich is then subject to rigorous formal and formal investigation by the registry office. As a rule, the whole process takes several years and tends to be financially demanding.
It is also important to note that Patent protection is strictly territorial. This means that the invention enjoys legal protection only in the territory of those states in which it is possible to achieve the grant of a patent successfully. In the territories of other states where protection has not been obtained or this country is not of commercial interest to the company, this solution is free, so it can be freely used by other entities.
That is why it is essential for companies to strategically consider, where they want to patent a solution, in which markets they plan to do business, where they have the most significant competition, which is of commercial interest to them.
Patents are not just a complicated legal formality. They represent a strategic tool that can help a firm protect innovation, increase company value, attract investors, and create a significant competitive advantage.
In today's economy, a simple rule often applies:A firm that fails to effectively protect its intellectual property runs the risk of being exploited by someone else.