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Frequently Asked Questions Inventions

When an invention arises from the collaboration between research groups in various countries, its ownership will be shared by all the participating organisations in proportions agreed by the applicants.

To register the name of another inventor on a patent application or a patent which has already been awarded, the current applicant/holder needs to file an application, preferably using form “3406X - Application for rectification”, and pay the corresponding fee. The application must be submitted along with a formal document, signed by each and every one of the inventors (both new and old), and also by the holder/s, in which they give their consent for their inclusion.

No, as it would not meet the requirement for novelty needed for inventions to be eligible for patent protection.

According to the Patent Act, any invention not included in the state of the art is considered novel. The State of the Art consists of everything that, prior to the submission date of the patent application, was made publicly accessible in Spain or abroad by a written or oral description, by use or by any other means.

According to the Patent Act, it is obligatory to initially file applications in Spain for inventions created in Spain.

This caution should be taken into account in light of the system of confidentiality to which all filed applications are subjected for the first two months after they are filed and which enables a decision to be reached on whether the object of the application affects national defence interests.