Analyse why the requirements for patentability of an invention are so Essay

Analyse why the requirements for patentability of an invention are so strict. Explain, with reasons, whether this is justified - Essay Example (Brettell, Barker). A Patent is defined as a legal document granted by the government giving an inventor the exclusive right to make, use and sell an invention for a specified number of years. The endeavour of the patent system is to encourage inventors to advance the state of technology by awarding them special rights to benefit from their inventions. Patent Law has also been extended to cover Computer programs and various living organisms, such as specialized mice used in cancer research. A recent trend in the field of Patent Law is the extension of patentability to new ways of doing business for example; the method of conducting an auction on the Internet is patented. With respect to books, movies, and works of art the law of copyright is applicable. (Schechter, Roger E).1 First, it must be novel in the sense that the invention did not have prior existence. This will be determined by the patent examiners who will make all efforts to determine the nature of the invention and if they find that the proposed invention had already been described in previous patents or written about in scientific magazines, then they will declare that the invention has been â€Å"anticipated.† Whenever it is concluded that such an eventuality has transpired then in such cases, the patent will be denied. The following case law illustrates this point: Secondly, the invention must not be obvious, which implies that the invention must be a significant improvement over the existing technology. Rudimentary changes to previously known devices do not qualify an invention for a patentable invention. The relevant case law in this regard is as follows: These decisions clearly show that unless the inventive step is new and non – obvious a patent will not be granted. The stringency of the patent act is clearly illustrated here and no exceptions are