Agreements and Patents

Our business advisors have extensive experience of both academia and industry, and will help you review contracts so they are as accurate and advantageous as possible for you as a researcher.

Intellectual properties – patents and other ways of protecting your idea
Intellectual properties are information or resources that are not physical objects. Examples are research results, names, designs, software, patterns, music and processes.
If you plan to use your discovery commercially you should definitely protect your Intellectual properties. Patents, brands, design protection and copyright are various ways of protecting your idea, maintaining protection of it and creating competitive advantages over other operators.

Why should one patent something?
You should file a patent if you believe your invention to be of commercial value and want it to be developed into a marketable product. This can be either within your own company or by selling/licensing the patent to an already established company. A patent is a form of protection against commercial actors who want to use your invention. The patent gives you limited-term protection that means no-one else may manufacture, sell or import your invention without your permission. We will help you assess whether your idea is patentable and will guide you through the entire patenting process.

Patent first – then publish
There is no conflict between the patenting of research results and publication of the latter, provided they are protected before publication. Contact us at SLU Holding as early as possible in the research process, and we will help you protect your knowledge.

What can I file a patent on?

The granting of a patent for an invention is subject to three criteria being met:

• The invention must be a novelty, i.e. it must not have been published anywhere – not even at a conference, as a poster or during a seminar.
• It must constitute an invention, i.e. be unique and differ markedly from what is already known. And the solution must not be obvious to anyone who is knowledgeable in the field of the invention.
• The invention must be industrially applicable and manufacturable.
  
  

Novelty search
The patenting process is expensive. Before a patent is filed, a novelty search should first be carried out. This means reviewing what patents and patent applications already exist in the area in question.
Through the program Validation for application you can apply for funding for novelty searches. The application takes place in consultation with one of our innovation and business advisors.

Trademark
Protecting your trademark is a long-term investment. The parts of trademarks that can be protected are names, logos and words.
To get the trademark registered, what you want to protect must be unique and not be used by anyone else.

Design
Registration of a design protects the unique form you have given your product. The protection is valid for 25 years and prevents others from using the same appearance for their products.
Registration of the design can be a way of emphasising the uniqueness of your products when you market them.

Copyright
Copyright protects artistic creation such as music, film, literature and computer programs. Copyright cannot be applied for – it arises when the work comes into being (assuming it is sufficiently original).