Patents
What is a patent?
A patent is both a tool for technical knowledge and legal protection, allowing the holder to prevent third parties from making, using, and/or selling the patented invention in the territory where the patent is granted. Innovation is at the heart of every economic system, and within it, the patent is the most important tool for protecting the fruits of research, enabling the recovery of investments through the exclusivity granted by the patent.
Specialized patent consulting
Our patent consulting department boasts expertise in various technical, scientific, and IT sectors, allowing us to draft patent applications in any technological field. Our support is based on understanding the specific needs of each client, ensuring a personalized and effective service.
Comprehensive assistance in the patent process
Thanks to constant updates on national and international regulations and a well-established network of foreign correspondents, our team is able to provide continuous assistance. We support clients not only in the initial phase but also during examination procedures, up to the granting and maintenance of patents.
Comprehensive assistance in the patent process
We assist our clients throughout all stages of the patenting process, from preparing and filing the application to obtaining the patent, both in Italy and abroad. Our approach aims to simplify the bureaucratic process and maximize the chances of success in protecting innovations.
Is it possible to patent something that already exists?
It is not possible to patent something that already exists , has been marketed or disclosed . In fact, novelty is a fundamental requirement for the patentability of an invention. For this reason, objects or inventions that have already been marketed or disclosed are excluded.
Specifically, an invention is considered disclosed when it has already been made accessible to third parties in any form, written or oral, such as, for example, the placing of an invention on the market or the publication of the same online or through a scientific article.
How long does a patent last?
The maximum duration of patents for inventions is 20 years from the filing date of the application.
Once the 20-year protection period expires, the subject matter of the invention is no longer protected—meaning it enters the public domain and can be used freely by anyone without restrictions or the payment of royalties.
Can you patent an idea?
Ideas, understood in an abstract and general sense—as well as intuitions or other categories of innovations—are not considered patentable by law.
The general legal principle is that ideas are freely appropriable; therefore, in order to be protected, they must take on a concrete form, a specific expression.
Article 45 of the Italian Industrial Property Code (CPI) explicitly states that the following cannot be patented:
- Scientific theories, discoveries, and mathematical methods;
- Plans, principles, and methods for intellectual activity, for games or commercial activities, and computer programs;
- Presentations of information;
- Methods for surgical or therapeutic treatment of the human or animal body and diagnostic methods applied to the human or animal body;
- Animal breeds and essentially biological processes for obtaining them; new plant varieties where the invention consists solely in the genetic modification of another plant variety;
- Anything that is not a product of human invention and that exists in nature.
What does a patent protect?
The patent for invention protects technical improvements, understood as products and production processes developed in any technological or industrial field.
An invention, in order to be considered as such and to be patentable, does not necessarily need to involve a high degree of innovation and may refer even to a detail or a minor improvement, provided that it represents a new and original solution to a technical problem.
