Abstract
Novelty is one of the most Important criteria an applicant must demonstrate for an invention before a patent can be granted. Its importance is not just crucial to patent agents, but also to information scientists, for any changes to the concept could have important implications for their work.
The paper describes the major requirements for patent novelty, i.e. the concepts of prior publication, prior use (also known as prior user) and prior claiming. The major groupings of patent novelty requirements in the world—local novelty, relative novelty, and the increasingly important absolute novelty are considered.
The paper then examines some variants on the concept of novelty. The best established of these variants is the novelty grace period, used in the USA. Finally, the paper looks at one of the most interesting suggestions for changes in patent law, the concept of the innovation or investment patent. This idea sweeps away the traditional concept of novelty. Innovation patents would not be granted unless there is evidence of commercial use. If such a system were adopted, the numbers of patents applied for and published would drop dramatically, and patents would become much less important as sources of information. At the moment, the concept of an innovation patent remains theoretical, as no country has seriously pro posed changing its patent law in that direction.
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