What is required to obtain a patent

What is required to obtain a patent?

A number of requirements must be met in order to obtain a patent for an invention. This page provides an overview of which requirements that must be met in an application:

Three requirements for patentable inventions:

Novelty

The invention must have novelty and the invention must therefore not be known to the public before the patent application is filed. Read more about novelty on our subpage for this topic
Inventive step

The invention has an inventive step if it lies beyond the contemplation or capability of the skilled person. Read more about inventive step on our subpage for this topic
Industrial application

The invention must be applicable within industry, e.g. in agriculture. In the United States the invention must be useful. Read more about industrial application on our subpage for this topic

What is patentable?

Patents can be granted for technical inventions. Below are a number of examples of what you can patent:

Chemical compounds

Devices

Compositions and mixtures of substances

Methods and applications

Is it possible to obtain patent protection on software?

A patent can be granted to protect software. It can, for example, be in the form of a patent protecting a medium of software or a method. However, the authorities in Europe formally do not allow patents to be granted on software.