Inventions

What is a patent?

Patents are rights that protect technical inventions from infringement. A patent is a right to exclusive use of an invention for a certain period of time, for profit (industrial, commercial) in the territory of a given country or countries, granted by a competent national, regional or international authority. The prorietor of the granted patent has the right to prevent other entities not having his consent from using the patented solution in the field of manufacturing, using, offering for sale, exporting or importing products manufactured according to the invention, or using the method being the subject of the invention, in the territory of the country in which patent is valid.

In which territory is the patent valid?

Patents are territorial and have a defined geographic scope. For example, patents granted by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland cover the territory of Poland. Patents granted by the European Patent Office can give rise to rights in individual countries that are members of the European Patent Convention - this is the majority of European countries.

How long does patent protection last?

Patents have a limited duration. Polish and European patents, as well as patents in many other countries around the world, have a maximum term of 20 years from the filing date. After a patent is granted, most countries require periodic payment of fees for successive years of protection until the maximum term of the patent expires.

Our patent services include:

• review of the Client's technical solutions to identify patentable inventions and advice on the strategy of submitting technical solutions;
• drawing up a description of the invention, including patent claims and submitting a patent application, as well as representing the Client at subsequent stages of the proceedings until a patent is obtained in Poland, Europe and worldwide.
• conducting court and administrative proceedings before the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw and the Supreme Administrative Court regarding decisions of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland regarding inventions;
• supervising deadlines of official fees related to keeping the patent in force, including payment of fees for subsequent years of patent protection in Poland and abroad;
• conducting opposition and invalidation proceedings before the Polish Patent Office, including preparation of applications and pleadings and participation in hearings;
• conducting appeal proceedings before the European Patent Office (EPO);
• monitoring of competitor's new invention applications: as part of this service, we can regularly search for publications of competitor's new invention applications, which gives us the ability to quickly counteract the appearance of identical or similar technical solutions on the market and knowledge of the competitor's research and development work;
• performing research on the patentability of a technical solution (invention) in order to assess the chances of obtaining patent protection for the invention;
• performing prior art research and determining the legal status of the closest solutions in order to assess patentability and to avoid infringement of third party rights.