Fundamental to any understanding of patent law is to understand what a patent is, to understand the rights that are granted by a patent, to understand what may be patented, to understand how long patent rights subsist and to understand what is meant by the term “priority date”.

See General.

To understand the application process, one must understand who may apply to obtain a patent, who to seek assistance from (whether it be a patent attorney or a lawyer), how the application is made, the types of application that can be filed and the format of the application.

See Application for a patent.

To be patentable an invention must satisfy five criteria. The invention must be a manner of manufacture within the meaning of s 6 of the Statute of Monopolies, the invention must be novel, it must involve an inventive step or an innovative step, the invention must be useful and it must not have been secretly used in the patent area.

See What is a patentable invention or innovation?

Once a patent application has been accepted the public are entitled to oppose the grant of the patent on prescribed grounds.

See Opposition to registration.

The enforcement of patent rights requires an understanding of when a patent is infringed and an equally important understanding of when a patent is not infringed. A patentee should understand the limits on the relief that they may be entitled to if they can prove infringement and they should also understand the consequences of making unjustified threats of legal proceedings.

See Infringement of patent.

To understand how a patent may be revoked and the grounds on which a patent may be revoked, see Revocation of patents.

To understand how a patent may be assigned, see Assignment of patents.