Patents and software

THE PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS

A patent, as with any other type of industrial property, is a legal instrument which protects the copyright of an invention, granting the exclusive rights of the invention for the purposes for which it was created. This entails the right to either prohibit or authorise the use of the invention by unauthorised third parties. That is, a patent concedes a monopoly over the commercial exploitation of an invention, permitting a return on the investment in transforming the idea into a product. Under the different types of industrial and intellectual property, the following aspects may be protected:

• Products, substances or combination.
• Procedures, instruments, machines…
• Microorganisms to obtain products or by themselves.
• Microbiological procedures and their byproducts.
• Medications
• Plant varieties
• Semiconductor topography
• Industrial designs
• Brands
• Software (vía intellectual property)
• ...

¡¡¡¡ PATENTING IS COMPATIBLE WITH PUBLISHING!!!!

Disseminating the results of your research is completely compatible with protecting your inventions under patent law or any other type of industrial protection. From the moment a patent request is submitted to the corresponding state office (OPEM, EPO, USPTO, etc.) we obtain the protection rights and the priority to extend these rights in practically any country of the world. The scientific articles written by researchers usually contain the essential information required to prepare the patent request. Therefore, if you believe you have an invention that is the result of your research, y PRIOR to submitting the article for publication, please contact us. Together with the patents agency we will evaluate the patentability of the invention and if it is feasible, we will define the protection strategy that best responds to the interests of the University of Salamanca and the authors. Prior dissemination of the invention will eliminate the possibility of patenting and is therefore a critical factor. In general terms, this includes everything that, prior to the date of submitting a patent request, has been available to the public in Spain or abroad, whether via written or oral channels, the use of the invention or by any other means. In other words any public disclosure (journal article, periodical, presentation at a conference, reading of a doctoral thesis, etc.) nullifies the novelty of the invention and therefore invalidates its patentability.

Therefore, if you believe that an invention resulting from your research is novel and has the potential for commercial or industrial exploitation, do not publish or publically disclose anything relative to the invention.

Contact the OTRI department and we will review the case with you. The University of Salamanca will share 50% of the commercial exploitation with the authors of the invention.

Link to document

Search the patents database:

• ESP@CENET: http://es.espacenet.com/
• DERWENT: http://www.accesowok.fecyt.es/diidw/
• USPTO: http://www.uspto.ov/main/profiles/acadres.htm

Documentation

REGULATIONS

• Regulation on patents and other industrial property rights

FORMS AND MODELS

• USAL patent application form
• Non-disclosure agreement (SPANISH)
• Non Disclosure Agreement (ENGLISH)
• MTA (Material Transfer Agreement) (SPANISH)
• MTA (Material Transfer Agreement) USAL to Company (ENGLISH)
• Patent License Agreement