Before delving further into this article, it is essential to note that ideas cannot be patented or protected as Intellectual Property. Patents are granted for only inventions that meet the eligibility elements. Ideas, however, are valuable, and it is from these ideas that inventions are born. Therefore, they must be protected to avoid the risk of prior disclosure, which might affect your chances of obtaining a patent when your invention is ultimately developed.
One of the biggest challenges to securing patent protection in developing countries is the high patent filing cost. Patent agents’ services and patent filing fees are only sometimes affordable, especially for individual local innovators who do not have the backing of conglomerates and other business dinosaurs. In most cases, innovators have lost potential income and possible patent protection from disclosing their ideas and inventions at pitch events, crowd-sourcing events, and during seed funding processes. Most innovators have a story or two of how they missed the opportunity to make a killing out of a ground-breaking invention during their early stages of growth. Inventors can easily avoid such mistakes with sufficient information and awareness of the available protection measures they can utilize before patent filing.
Some of these measures include;
- Utilizing confidentiality agreements:
Disclosure is an essential condition for granting a patent in addition to the elements of patent eligibility. Inventors must disclose their inventions, and there must have been no prior use or publication to the public; otherwise, you risk losing priority of filing and, ultimately, patent protection. This is because patent protection is granted for new inventions. Therefore, when you disclose your invention before filing a patent, it may no longer be considered novel.
Inventors must take all the necessary steps to ensure their ideas and inventions are kept confidential until they have achieved priority through patent filing. Inventors can keep their ideas secret and only disclose them subject to non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements. You must ensure that before you reveal any aspect (bearing in mind that there is no small information) of your idea to anyone, that person has signed a confidentiality agreement which you would rely on to claim your protection.
Under the Uganda Industrial Property Act 2014, an invention is considered to have been disclosed if made available to the public anywhere in the world orally or in writing before the filing date or priority date of the patent application.
Like many other countries, Uganda operates on a “first-to-file” system, which means that the first person to file a patent application for an invention will generally be granted the patent, provided all other requirements are met. Therefore, inventors need to file their patent applications as soon as possible to avoid losing their rights to their inventions.
In Uganda, there is a grace period of 12 months during which an inventor can publicly disclose their invention without losing their right to file a patent application. However, this grace period only applies if the inventor made the public disclosure or the disclosure was made with their consent.
It is essential for inventors to be aware of the potential risks of public disclosure and to take steps to protect their inventions.
Confidentiality also acts as a form of protection in the form of trade secrets which offer IP protection without requiring the holder to disclose confidential information relating to the process or invention.
2. Filing for a utility model/utility patent:
In some jurisdictions, inventors can file for utility models, which offer lesser protection than patents. In Uganda, utility models are provided for under the Industrial Property Act, offering lesser protection of ten years compared to twenty years granted by patents. The process for obtaining a utility model is cheaper and faster than patent filing.
Utility models offer a cheaper alternative compared to patents. Another benefit is that the holder can convert the application for a utility model into that of a patent while maintaining the priority date for the initial application. This gives you the right to priority date in terms of filing for protection and an opportunity to source funding without jeopardizing your priority of filing and compromising the disclosure element.
3. Find a probono IP lawyer or IP organization you can trust:
Intellectual property is precious, and IP offices and lawyers are always available to advise on how you can protect your idea before filing a patent. Even better, IP organizations and lawyers offer probono (free) services and will assist you in filing your patent at no or cheaper cost. The URSB is always available to guide businesses and IP holders on securing protection, and organizations like IP Span Africa provide free legal services in this field. Instead of waiting and risking losing your brilliant idea, find available avenues to help kickstart the process. What is essential is to ensure that before anything relating to your concept is discussed between yourself and the IP office or lawyer, a confidentiality agreement is executed to ensure that your idea will be kept secret and information protected.
These measures will help you to protect your idea and get started on the process of filing your patent. They do not substitute filing a patent because it will grant you the most robust protection to help you maximize the commercial benefit of your idea and invention.