This chapter explores the criteria that are applied to determine the validity of a design, whether a registered design in the UK or an unregistered design: the design must be ‘new’; the design must have ‘individual character’; the applicant or the right holder must be entitled to the protected design; and the design must not conflict with earlier relevant rights (including earlier design applications, copyright, trade mark rights, and rights relating to certain types of emblem). The factors to take into account to determine the novelty of a design, such as prior art, are also considered. The chapter concludes by looking at relative grounds for design invalidity.
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L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
Chapter
All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing able students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses the requirements of patentability: novelty, inventive step, and sufficiency and support. Novelty means that the invention is new, i.e. is not anticipated. Under section 3 of the Patents Act 1977, an invention involves an inventive step ‘if it is not obvious to a person skilled in the art, having regard to any matter which forms part of the state of the art’. Patent applicants must also satisfy disclosure requirements. Section 14(3) provides that the specification of an application must disclose the invention in a manner clear and complete enough to be performed by the person skilled in the art (sufficiency of disclosure). Section 14(5)(c) provides that claims must be clear, concise, and supported by the description, a requirement (supported by the description).
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter explores the criteria that are applied to determine the validity of a design —whether a registered design in the UK and the European Union or an unregistered Community design: the design must be ‘new’; the design must have ‘individual character’; the applicant or the right holder must be entitled to the protected design; and the design must not conflict with earlier relevant rights (including earlier design applications, copyright, trade mark rights, and rights relating to certain types of emblem). The factors to take into account to determine the novelty of a design, such as prior art, are also considered. The chapter concludes by looking at relative grounds for design invalidity.
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter considers novelty as a prerequisite for an invention to be patentable under both the Patents Act 1977 and the European Patents Convention. More specifically, it tackles three questions to help decide whether an invention is novel: what the invention is; what information is disclosed by the prior art; and whether the invention is novel (part of the state of the art). It also looks at the so-called ‘right to work’ argument, whereby novelty helps to ensure that patents are not used to prevent people from doing what they had already done before the patent was granted, and its modification as a result of changes in the way in which novelty is determined. The chapter concludes by discussing three specific types of inventions and the problems that have arisen when evaluating their novelty: inventions relating to medical uses and non-medical uses, and so-called selection inventions.
Chapter
L. Bently, B. Sherman, D. Gangjee, and P. Johnson
This chapter considers novelty as a prerequisite for an invention to be patentable under both the Patents Act 1977 and the European Patents Convention. More specifically, it tackles three questions to help decide whether an invention is novel: what the invention is; what information is disclosed by the prior art; and whether the invention is novel (part of the state of the art). It also looks at the so-called ‘right to work’ argument, whereby novelty helps to ensure that patents are not used to prevent people from doing what they had already done before the patent was granted, and its modification as a result of changes in the way in which novelty is determined. The chapter concludes by discussing three specific types of inventions and the problems that have arisen when evaluating their novelty: inventions relating to medical uses, non-medical uses, and so-called selection inventions.
