What are the four essential requirements for an accurate patent definition? These same four things are also necessary requirements to file a patent that will be valuable and protect your invention from theft. They are:
The invention must be novel.
Being novel means that it cannot be known by others or used by others before the inventor claims to have invented it. It also means that the invention cannot be patented or publicly disclosed before the invention is claimed by the inventor. The patent must be applied for within 1 year after public disclosure or use.
The invention must not be obvious.
The proposed invention may not be obvious to a person with average skill in the area of knowledge of the invention. An example could be a red toy car. A blue toy car would be an obvious extension of a red toy car. However, a toy car that transforms into a robot is not an obvious extension of a red toy car.
The invention must be described simply and completely, so that a skilled person can duplicate it.
A knowledgeable person must be able to fully understand the invention for it to be patentable. If the fear of having the invention stolen motivates the inventor to omit essential elements of the invention, then it is not patentable. This person would be better off keeping the invention a trade secret.
Patent claims must be clear and specific.
Patent claims are the hardest, but most important part of a patent. They are the intellectual property that you ask the patent office to protect. These claims must be specific and clear, otherwise the patent office will not accept them. Even if the patent office accepts them, they must be defensible in court.