Tips for identifying innovation and what to do about it

IP can be of tremendous value to organisations of all sizes. It attracts investment by demonstrating your company’s innovative capabilities, defends your market position and fends off competitors, and provides the opportunity to license your technology to generate royalty income. 

There is a variety of forms of IP protection, including patents, trademarks, designs, copyright, confidential information and plant breeders’ rights. A patent attorney can provide further advice regarding the relevance of all these forms of IP protection to your business.  

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Patents generally offer the most valuable IP protection for businesses in technical fields such as agritech.  Patents offer the ability for you to protect an idea – rather than just the specific form that idea takes and prevent your competitors from using that idea – such as copying your innovation without your permission. This right lasts a limited time (generally 20 years), but provides a huge head start over others. 

Despite the significant value that patents can offer, they can be unforgiving when it comes to timing and process requirements. All too often the opportunity to seek patent protection is missed, misunderstood, or never recognised.

Here’s your guide to ensuring this doesn’t happen to you.  

First step starts with identification

There is great flexibility in what patents can cover. Some common threads useful for identifying a potentially patentable invention at an early stage include:

1. A technical problem identified

Patents concern solutions to technical problems, through new devices, materials, systems/processes, and treatments, as opposed to artistic works, abstract concepts or ways of doing business.  

In some areas of technology, this separation can get into grey areas.

Essentially, technical solutions using something tangible that is new or using it in a new way generally have the potential for patent rights.

Conversely, using a computer to more efficiently perform a method may be patentable, but not if you are doing no more than using the computer in its conventional way such as programmed to carry out a process that was previously performed manually. 

These grey areas require the guidance of a suitable patent attorney.

2. That was then solved

Patents need to be reduced to practice. In exchange for the chance to obtain a monopoly right to your innovation, you must teach the world at large how you solved the technical problem. Your patent claims must also correspond to the contribution you have made to the particular field of technology. 

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You and your colleagues should keep alert to technical challenges you encounter and to how you solve these. Any such solution, unless it is the ‘only and obvious’ route forward, could have the potential for patent protection. The best way to spot these hidden gems is to encourage your team to document their problem-solving process. When was the “aha!” moment? What alternative approaches did you try or consider before landing on the final solution?  

3. In a new and (somewhat) creative way

Your solution must be new (novel) over what is in the public domain.

It must also be inventive (creative or original) over what is in the public domain, but – contrary to popular belief – this does not require it to be a groundbreaking, world-changing idea.

It can be easy to dismiss your own innovations as “nothing special” – but that’s often where the real value lies. Those small tweaks and clever workarounds you come up with daily could be ripe for patenting.  

There are many clues as to what may satisfy the legal test. For example, if your solution was not the first approach you tried, or if you had to convince your colleagues towards your approach, that is often a strong indication of inventiveness. What may seem unremarkable to you may still satisfy inventiveness, and this question is always worth exploring with a patent attorney who understands your business. 

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Your solution should offer a tangible advantage or benefit over what is in the public domain –think speed, effectiveness, scalability and cost. The patent system provides great flexibility regarding what sort of advantage will count, but it must be something that arises from the new combination of features that make up your innovation.

5. And that will enjoy a commercial lifespan

If properly maintained, patents last 20 years but take some years to be granted by government agencies. However brilliant your new concept may be, if its value is likely to be transient (i.e. quickly overtaken by technology changes), then patenting is probably not the way to proceed. Instead, it is likely best to keep it secret. Exploit its commercial value and your ‘first mover’ advantage if possible and build on your idea for the future. 

I’ve got something worth patenting. What do I do next?

Keep your invention confidential 

Don’t publicly disclose your innovation prior to filing a patent, (or making the decision not to patent. Your own disclosure will mean your invention is no longer new, thus precluding (or significantly limiting) your ability to patent. 

If you need to discuss your invention with others, get those parties to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). However, a filed patent application provides far greater security and will help show how serious you are when talking with potential partners about your idea. 

If a disclosure of your invention is inadvertently made, seek advice from a patent attorney as a matter of urgency. 

Contact a patent attorney to discuss next steps 

Patenting is complex and a trained professional is required to deliver satisfactory results. Seek professional advice at an early stage. Your attorney can guide you through the patenting process, ensuring you maximise your chances of success and avoid any costly missteps. 

So, keep your eyes peeled, document your breakthroughs, and seek professional guidance when appropriate. The hidden potential in your business is just waiting to be unlocked. 

FPA Patent Attorneys aim to assist innovators to protect and commercialise their inventions. If you are interested in learning more about intellectual property or in seeking patent protection for your ideas, contact FPA Patent Attorneys here.