Patent Registration Process Flow for Software Business Template

Patent registration is an essential part of the process of developing software, creating an invention, building a brand, and defending the product's legal identity. It is also crucial and plays an important role to stay on top of the competitive market and ahead of the competition.

Intellectual Property rights

• Patent right- protects the technical process or product of an invention for up to 20 years. This will defend your product from other manufacturers to distribute it freely, use, sell, rent, or supply your invention without your consent.
• Trademark right- protects trademarks registered in the official trademark register.
• Design right- protects the physical appearance (such as patterns and shapes) of new and unique designs and products. Have in mind that in the EU, you have to apply for design right up to 12 months after the first disclosure of the design.

There are also three requirements for patent: novelty, inventiveness, and industrial applicability. The cost of the patent and the time process depends on the country. A patent is essentially a national right, both the granting phase and the maintenance procedure need to be separately completed in each country.

The patent process consists of 3 phases:

• Premier depot
• International phase
• National / regional phase

Patent registration process

• Search
• Application
• Prior Art Disclosures
• Publication of Patent
• Patent Prosecution
• Allowance
• Registration

NB: Applying for a patent for software is a complex process. It is best to seek legal advice from a professional that specializes in the field of patent software registration. the patent registration application does not pertain to only software but to an invention that is applicable for industrial use.