Grant and Publication of Patent

A patent is a document issued upon application by a government which describes an invention as well as creates a legal situation in which the patented invention can usually only be exploited with the authorization of the owner.
When patent is granted, the details of the patent are entered into the Patent Register.
The Register usually contains bibliographic data such as the patent number, the name and address of the applicant, the name of the inventor, the original application number, the filing date, certain priority application details as well as the title of the invention.
It does not enclose any technical information.
Invention means a solution to a specific problem in the field of technology.
An invention may narrate to a product or a process.
Furthermore in countries where annual fee payments are needed in order to keep up the patent in force, the Register will hold details of when such fees have been paid and may also list any details of licenses or assignments which may have been recorded.
The Register can thus be very helpful to third parties particularly competitors of the applicant.
It reveals the actual condition of the patent.
In some countries the courts accept a certified copy of an extract from the Register as being proof of the rightness of the position recorded in respect of the patent The Patent Office publishes in an Official Gazette a reference to the grant of the patent with the prescribed bibliographic data.
The entry in the Official Gazette may also contain the abstract or the main claim and the most illustrative drawing.
A Certificate of Grant is issued to the applicant which is the legal document establishing his ownership of the patent.
A copy of the granted patent is also issued at the same time.
The Patent Office normally publishes the patent document itself in printed form.
Recently, certain Patent Offices have decided to publish certain kinds of patent applications in electronic form only.
Copies of the patent document are made obtainable by the Patent Office for use by patent libraries.
A lot of Offices also publish the application 18 months after the priority date or filing date.
In order to keep the patent in force each year for the term of the patent a prescribed renewal or maintenance fee typically has to be paid to the Patent Office.
In a number of countries deferred examination system exists.
There the maintenance fee is payable even before the patent is granted.
A small number of countries do not require the payment of maintenance fees.