WHAT IS NOVELTY OF AN INVENTION?

Introduction:

Getting a Granted or Registered Patent for an Invention is not an easy task. Every country has its own Rules and Regulations for judging an Invention. There are certain criteria that must be fulfilled by the applied Patent application in order to get a Registered Patent. Novelty requirement of the Invention is one of them. More or less, every country has at least Novelty criteria for the Invention. Therefore, the invention must be new as compared to what is already known in the public domain.

WHAT IS NOVELTY?

Novelty means, an Invention must be New as compared to the existing knowledge already disclosed in the public domain. According to the Indian Patent Law, any Invention or Technology which has not been anticipated by prior publication in any document or used in the country or elsewhere in the world before the date of filing of Patent application will be considered as a new subject matter. Meaning, the subject matter should not be disclosed or fallen in the public domain or should not be formed part of the state of the art.

WHY IS THIS A REQUIREMENT?

The idea behind Granting Patent protection is to promote research and development. It encourages people to invent so that new ideas are applied, and technical advancement may occur. This means that the Invention should not be based only on what is already disclosed in the public domain. It should contribute meaningfully to the creation of new knowledge.

ROLE OF PATENT OFFICE FOR FINDING IN NOVELTY:

During the course of examination of the Patent Application, if the Controller finds that the applied Invention is similar to any existing published or granted patent/article/publication/or in any form already present in the public domain, in that case, the Controller may object the applied Patent Application and that may lead to the rejection of the Invention.

Please note that an Invention should be disclosed or used in the public unless it is applied or protected through Patent or any other relevant means. If someone has already disclosed his/her Invention in the public domain through publication or by any means, in that case it won’t be considered as a new Invention.

CONCLUSION:

From the above discussion, it is clear that if someone is applying for a Patent, it must meet the Novelty criteria. It is always advisable to scope out the exact Novelty of the Invention and should be properly drafted in the Patent application in order to avoid the rejection from the Patent Office.