patent

August 3, 2016

If an employee creates an invention, will the patent belong to the employee or the company?

Sometimes the right to patent an invention doesn’t rest directly with the inventor but rather with the company the inventor works for.  Many companies, universities and research centers take measures to ensure that the institution, and not the inventor, owns all patents arising from an invention. 
June 21, 2016

Are business methods covered under Japanese patent law?

Patent law in Japan covers inventions that “utilize the laws of nature.”  This qualification makes Japanese patent law unique and means that inventions that the products of a person’s mind, rules to a game or scientific laws cannot be patented.  Therefore, business method patents, which are designed to protect an intangible business idea, are generally not recognized in Japan.
April 13, 2016

Is it possible to invalidate a patent application that was granted incorrectly?

Although the patent application process weeds out most fraudulent applications sometimes patents are granted to the wrong person by mistake.  This may be the result of a misunderstanding or someone acting with a bad motive.  In either case, inventors who feel that that a patent was granted incorrectly may bring an action in court to invalidate it.
March 30, 2016

Should an inventor search for prior art before applying for a patent?

Inventions that are not novel cannot be patented, but sometimes an inventor who has spent months working on a new product won’t have realized that someone else has already invented the same thing.  In order to ensure that an invention is able to be patented, it is always advisable to first search for prior art that makes the invention not novel.