Patentable inventions
We have seen that, if it is capable of being used or applied in trade, industry or agriculture, an invention which is new can be patented.
Read section 25(1) of the Patents Act.
The World Intellectual Property Organization has put some wacky inventions on its website, for a laugh; see www.wipo.int/patents/en/historical_patents. However, most patents are more serious than swimming costumes made from hundreds of corks in order to keep you afloat. Closer to home, and way more viable, is a South African invention — the well-known Kreepy Krauly. Automatic pool cleaners are an everyday item in households across the country. The original Kreepy Krauly was developed by a man named Ferdinand Chauvier, and his invention uses the suction power of a swimming pool pump to ‘pull’ water past a flapper valve, which (thanks to Bernoulli’s theorem and something called the Venturi effect) rocks backwards and forwards under the water pressure. The stop-start of this movement causes the pool cleaner to jerk around the pool floor, sucking up dirt at the same time. We’ll come back to the Kreepy Krauly later.
Certain things cannot be the subject of registered patents. These are:
- a discovery;
- a scientific theory;
- a mathematical method;
- a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation;
- a scheme, rule, or method for playing a game, doing business or even performing a mental act;
- a computer program;
- the presentation of information.
Read section 25(2) of the Patents Act.
A patent will also not be granted for:
- an invention which could encourage offensive or immoral behaviour;
- any plant or animal variety;
- any biological process for the production of animals or plants;
- a method of medical diagnosis, whether for humans or animals;
- a treatment by way of surgery or therapy.
Read sections 25(4) and 25(11) of the Patents Act.
You will have got the idea by now that expert advice is essential for almost all things to do with patents. Contact the South African Institute for Intellectual Property Law for details of patent attorneys in your area — www.saiipl.co.za.
If your invention is not ruled out because of what we have just referred to, it then faces two important requirements for a valid patent. One is that the invention must be new or novel, and the second is that it must involve an inventive step. Although this sounds like the same thing, the two concepts have different qualities. We’ll unpack these now.