Patent

Patent: an intellectual property right granted by the UK Intellectual Property Office in respect of a new invention. It is not granted automatically, and an application must be filed with the UK Intellectual Property Office to obtain protection. In the majority of countries, the right has a maximum lifetime of twenty years from the date of the patent application. A patent for an invention may only be awarded in the United Kingdom if the following conditions are met: (i) the invention is new; (ii) it involves an inventive step, (iii) it is capable of industrial application and (iv) it is not specifically excluded from protection as a patent, in accordance with section 1 of the Patents Act (1977).