FIPA Magazine: How a good idea can change your life

A dream job for many mechanical engineering students: to become a design engineer. Students aiming for careers in research and development often devote their energy to mechanics, thermodynamics or vacuum technology. German industry continues to invest large amounts to stay competitive. For design engineers, conditions are optimal for pursuing their passions: around 50,000 patents in 2017 are proof of this.

If you are dealing with the patent question, the first thing you will ask yourself is how “inventive”, for instance, your new vacuum technology really is. The concept of an “inventive step” is the decisive factor for patentability. The European Patent Office created the so-called (European) “problem-and-solution approach” for this reason. Go through this thought process to determine how good your idea is: What prior state of the art in vacuum technology does your invention come closest to? This is the starting point. Now ask yourself and note down the objective problem which your revolutionary vacuum technology addresses to improve the technical state of the art. Then imagine yourself asking a specialist: Can he or she solve your problem the same way you did, using his or her knowledge or other technologies? If the answer is yes, you have not (yet) revolutionized vacuum technology, since your solution is too “obvious”. Answer these questions:

• Has the problem existed for a long time, and is it known among experts in vacuum technology?
• Is there a need to solve the problem?
• Does your invention rectify a technical misconception?
• Would your idea surprise experts?

The Patent Office also consults specialists. These specialists aren’t actual people, however, but “hybrid characters”. They are fictional, and with good reason: to answer the question “Patent: yes or no?” as accurately as possible, it is assumed that the fictional character has access to all the technical know-how in the world. At the same time, this person is not considered clever enough to isolate and combine characteristics from this overall knowledge. This means that our fictional person can only do unoriginal things. Complicated, right?

This is why companies often have their own invention commissioners. In companies oriented towards research and development, such as Bosch or Siemens, it is common for thousands of reports to be made every year. An expert can help to screen property rights for trivial modifications or combinations of previously known characteristics, thereby avoiding confusion regarding property rights.

Stay positive: patent attorneys are often quoted saying: “It’s not always necessary to create a great = revolutionary invention. Anything which is not self-evident can be patented! A great invention can also consist of various small inventions.”

Let’s assume your vacuum technology has what it takes to become a patent! Don’t go peddling your idea – except to invention commissioners! If you want a patent, you need a new, that is, unpublished idea. Otherwise, the circumstances are “prejudicial to novelty”. If you present your innovation, for instance, as a sketch at an internal exhibition, you will harm yourself. Any presentation of an invention is prejudicial to its novelty – even within a closed circle of dealers. It goes without saying that no information about the invention should be available online or in a journal.

If you are an employee and your idea for better vacuum technology was created on a company computer, make sure you document everything! Many companies have an “invention report” for this purpose. Describe your idea carefully, including technical details. If you proceed carelessly in this step, you won’t be doing yourself or your idea any favors. Remember the “problem-and-solution approach”: every word is relevant! Ultimately, only the description on paper will decide the fate of your invention, not the invention itself.

Collect texts, drawings and layouts to ensure you are applying for a patent claim with a broad scope of protection that is nevertheless inventive. If you are not sure what should be included in the application other than the description of your invention and a presentation of the problem, you can find good tips online, for instance at www.epo.org. Once the ink has dried for all parties involved, the attorney or invention commissioner will send the papers to the Patent Office. Whether this is the European Patent Office (EPO) or a different authority depends on the country in which your innovative vacuum technology will be protected.

The invention commissioner or attorney will inform you how to proceed regarding the rights to your idea. The keyword is: the Employee Inventions Act. This is based on the fact that most technical inventions are created in a work environment. A common practice is for the employer to purchase the idea. Renowned machine manufacturers in the town of Waiblingen in Baden-Württemberg, for instance, pay 750 euros to their inventors according to unofficial information, thereby acquiring rights of use. According to the inventor principle, however, you will remain the creator of your innovation in vacuum technology. This ensures that your name will be inseparably connected to the idea. Once your application is received at the Patent Office, the next step is: waiting. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve accomplished something that not just anyone can do – congratulations!

At the EPO, in addition to an initial review and examination of formal requirements, extensive research will be conducted and a European research report will be created, which you will receive along with an initial statement. Exactly 18 months after the date of registration, the registration will be published. You will now be given six months to decide whether to continue the procedure with an application for substantive examination. Once all fees have been paid, your invention will be protected for the first time. The substantive examination will be conducted by a committee within the EPO, which will decide whether or not to grant the patent. This will be followed by publication in the European Patent Office Journal, and anyone who wishes to veto the patent may do so now. Everyone has the same rights: you can withdraw your application at any point in the process and file objections against decisions of the EPO. In short: the authorities will do everything they can to protect you and others against patent infringement.