Patent registration in the United Kingdom (UK). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country in north-western Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom has the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal gross domestic product (GDP), and the tenth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It has a high-income economy and a very high human development index rating, ranking 13th in the world. The UK became the world’s first industrialized country and was the world’s foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today the UK remains one of the world’s great powers, with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific, technological, and political influence internationally. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in the United Kingdom.
Patent in the United Kingdom
According to the United Kingdom law, a patent in this country is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in the United Kingdom, an invention must satisfy the requirement of new, inventive, and industrially applicability.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
On the other hand, the subjects that are unpatentable in the United Kingdom are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in the United Kingdom
The necessary documents for patent registration in the United Kingdom include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s names, addresses, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The procedure for patent registration in the United Kingdom
To obtain a patent in the United Kingdom, the applicant needs to file a patent application to the IP Office of the United Kingdom.
The examiners will first conduct a test for novelty. This means that the subject of the patent application must be unique and hasn’t been made publicly known anywhere in the world.
The report for such search should be issued within 6 months from the filing date.
If the Search Report is not favorable, the decision may be taken to withdraw the application, so as to not make the subject of the patent application public, affecting the rights of the inventors/applicants.
If the Search Report is favorable, a formal examination will be conducted.
Within 18 months after the filing date, the patent application will be published. The request for the substantive examination must be submitted to the IP Office within 6 months from the publication date.
In exchange for the publication of detailed information about the invention, the patent granted will have a 20 years validity period.
Strategically, only 1 in 20 applications filed without the help of an IP professional successfully receive the grant decision. Therefore, it’s best that when seeking patent protection in the United Kingdom as well as in other countries, the applicant seeks legal support from a reputable IP Law firm.
You can see a list of the United Kingdom IP firms here.