TABLE OF CONTENTS This chapter has so far considered the process for patenting an invention in the UK. Almost every country in the world has some form of patent system but each country has its own law and in most cases a separate application has to be filed in each country, dealt with separately through a local patent attorney, and requires payment of official fees and professional fees to the attorney.
Many developed countries have a system roughly similar to that in the UK; other countries make no examination and a patent is granted on payment of a fee with any disputes about novelty etc. being settled in court at a later date.
A patent only has legal effect in the country for which it was granted. If an inventive article is protected only by a UK patent, making the article in China and selling it in the USA are not infringements, although importing such an article into the UK would be. For protection outside the UK, patent applications in other countries are needed. These can be chosen as the countries where major sales are expected, or the countries where major competitors have their manufacturing facilities. For detailed comment, see Chapter 10.
Most significant countries belong to an international convention relating to filing patent applications. When an application has been filed in a home country and a priority date has been established, and if an application is filed within 12 months in another country which...
