An intellectual property right granted for an invention, which gives its holder a monopoly on the exploitation of that invention in a specific territory. This monopoly lasts for 20 years subject to the regular payment of annuities and is provided in exchange for the disclosure of the invention. The territory can vary depending on the type of patent. It may be a country such as the French patent covering the French territory, or a region such as the European patent or the ARIPO patent (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization).
To be granted a patent and obtain the associated monopoly, the applicant, whether a legal entity or an individual, must file a patent application with the relevant office. This patent application is then subject to a search and examination by the competent office to ensure that it meets the patentability criteria, which are:
- the patent application must relate to a technical invention in a patentable field,
- the invention must be novel compared to the prior art,
- the invention must involve an inventive step compared to that prior art and
- the invention must be industrially applicable.