Filing an application that meets all the requirements gives the applicant a right of priority. In practice, this means that unless the Office decides to refuse the application, no patent can be granted to another applicant for the same or a functionally equivalent invention.
Proceedings before the Office are then split into two stages: a preliminary examination followed by a full examination. In the first stage, the Office assesses whether the subject matter is obviously unpatentable – that is, whether it is an invention within the meaning of the Patent Act at all, whether it appears to meet the three basic conditions, and whether it falls into a category the law expressly excludes from patent protection.
Example:
A patent cannot be granted for a sequence of steps intended to guarantee the diagnosis of a particular disease, nor for a purely theoretical scientific model describing the components of an active substance to be given when treating a certain illness.
The Patent Act expressly rules out patents for diagnostic and therapeutic methods, even though at first glance they might look like inventions based on a technical solution. The second case is not an invention at all, as it is merely a theoretical model with no tangible result. The active substance itself, however, once made into a medicine suitable for use in the human body, can be patented.
If the applicant cannot correct or rebut the errors and defects identified by the Office, the application will be refused. Otherwise, 18 months after the priority date, the Office publishes the application in its Gazette. From that moment anyone may file observations on the patentability of the published invention, which are then considered in the next stage – the full examination of the grant proceedings.
The Office is not obliged to start the full examination itself (although it may do so). It is therefore advisable to request full examination once the application has been published. If the Office does not begin the full examination on its own initiative and receives no request within 36 months of filing, the proceedings are discontinued. During full examination, any observations against patentability and the fulfilment of the patentability criteria are reviewed in detail, in cooperation with the applicant. If it turns out that a patent cannot be granted, the application is refused. Otherwise the Office grants the patent, the applicant becomes its owner and receives a patent certificate, and the grant is announced in the Gazette. A patent is valid for 20 years from the filing date. So-called maintenance fees, set out in the fee schedule, must be paid for every year the patent remains in force.
Frequently Asked Questions About Trademarks
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How to Obtain a Patent and the Conditions for Grant
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What Is a Trademark?
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