Human genetics : minutes of evidence, Wednesday 8 February 1995 ... / Science and Technology Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology
Date:
[1995], ©1995
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Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Human genetics : minutes of evidence, Wednesday 8 February 1995 ... / Science and Technology Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    WEDNESDAY 8 FEBRUARY 1995 Members present: Sir Giles Shaw, in the Chair Mr Spencer Batiste Mr William Powell Dr Jeremy Bray Sir Trevor Skeet Mrs Anne Campbell Sir Gerard Vaughan Chery] Gillan Dr Alan W Williams Dr Lynne Jones Memorandum by the Department of Trade and Industry (30 January 1995) GRANTING OF PATENTS—GENERAL SUMMARY 1. Patents in the United Kingdom may be granted under the 1977 Patents Act or the European Patent Convention (EPC). The latter was set up to provide a single procedure for obtaining patents effective in a number of European states. The European patent so granted, in each of the contracting states for which it is granted, has essentially the same effect as a national patent granted by the state. There are, at present, 17 contracting states under the Convention which is administered by the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. PROCEDURE 2. The procedure for obtaining a patent is essentially the same whichever route is chosen. In outline, once a patent specification, containing a description of an invention and claims, which define the monopoly sought, is filed and the appropriate fees paid a search through the relevant databases of the “prior art” will be made to determine whether what the applicant is claiming is both novel and involves an inventive step. The applicant then receives a search report and the specification is published, as received, at 18 months after its priority date. 3. Substantive (full) examination of the application follows if requested by the applicant. During this stage the application is examined by a Patent Office examiner in order to ascertain whether it complies with all the pre-grant requirements of the Act or the EPC, as appropriate. Any objections are communicated, in writing, to the applicant who then has the opportunity of submitting amendments or arguments to overcome them. This process may be repeated until agreement is reached and the patent is subsequently granted. Publication of the granted patent then follows. There are procedures for settling disputes between the examiner and the applicant. PATENT LAW 4. The law, both under the 1977 UK Patents Act and the European Patent Convention, is the same in all the essential aspects, particularly in respect of what may or may not be patented and the requirements placed upon the description and claims of the patent specification. 5. Patents may only be granted for inventions which are novel, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application. 6. For an invention to be novel it must not have been made available to the public, whether in the UK or elsewhere, in any way before the priority date of the application. In practice, availability will be established as a result of the examiner’s search. 7. The criterion for deciding that an invention involves an inventive step is that the invention must not be obvious to a person skilled in the art having regard to what was known before the priority date of the application. This ensures that patents are not granted for minor, non-inventive modifications to previously © known products or processes. An invention is judged to be capable of industrial application if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture. 8. Certain things are excluded from patentability because they are not inventions. These include discoveries, aesthetic creations, computer programs and presentation of information. These exclusions are narrowly construed and do not extend, for example, to the technical application of a discovery or a computer The cost of printing and publishing these Minutes of Evidence is estimated by HMSO at £3,280.