Testimonials
I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for doing such a wonderful job on the patent application - it looks great and fingers crossed it's plain sailing from here!G Puddepha
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Use our simple European Patent Cost Calculator to obtain a quote and to order your European patent filing.
Did you know...
Can I patent a Business Method / Software / a Game ?
In the USA, yes if it is unique and inventive. But in the UK and Europe, it is likely to be much more difficult or impossible. However, a Registered Design might be suitable. Ask us for further advice.
Helpful tip
If you have filed an initial patent application in your home country and are considering an international PCT patent application, analyse any available search results prior to filing and consider modifying the claims to make them as unique and inventive as possible.
Patents
Albright Patents is a full service patent and trademark attorney firm offering representation before the UK Patent Office ( UKIPO ), the European Patent Office ( EPO ) and internationally before the WIPO ( World Intellectual Property Organisation ). We can also file patent applications in almost any country throughout the world.
For British, European and International patent applications, unlike many patent attorney firms, Albright Patents uses a secure and immediate online filing system. This online filing system also provides discounted official fees, and we are proud to pass on these cost-savings in full to our clients.
Our European and British patent attorneys are able to advise on all areas of patent law, including:
- Patentability
- Pre-application searching
- Patent drafting, filing, and amendment through to grant in any country
- Validity
- Infringement
- Revocation
- Entitlement
- Licences and assignments and recordal
- Opposition before the European Patent Office (opposing and defending)
Our offices are located in Cheltenham, UK, and you are welcome to contact us for free initial advice regarding :
- Patents for inventions
- Trade Marks for your brand image and company
- Registered Designs to protect the appearance of your products
- Copyright to cover your literature, artwork and graphic design
Whether you are an inventor, designer, entrepreneur or business, Albright Patents can help you stay ahead of your competitors by protecting your new designs, products and trade names in a thorough, proactive and cost effective way.
Our firm provides a personal service, puts our clients first and has a strategy to support your enterprise. We are here to protect your creative vision, innovation and investment, through domestic, European and international patent filings.
Patents Overview
Patents generally protect products or processes, which include new technical or functional aspects. They protect the ideas behind how things work.
If a new product or process yields one or more advantages over known products and processes, then there is a reasonable likelihood that it is patentable, provided that it has not been publicly disclosed already.
Protection afforded by patents is territorial, for example, a British patent only gives the patentee a monopoly in the UK.
It is possible to file a patent application in the UK, and subsequently to file corresponding patent applications in foreign countries up to a year later. There is thus a 12 months grace period for overseas patent filings in most countries.
To read more about the importance of patent protection to your business, please see the section below.
You are also welcome to contact us on +44(0)1242 691 801 to speak to a qualified British and European patent attorney.
The Importance Of Patent Protection To Your Business
Any business which invests in research and development cannot afford to ignore the power that patents have in protecting that investment. Patent protection provides a means of obtaining a monopoly in a desired country or countries for a term of up to 20 years from the date of filing for an invention, be it a process or product.
Strategic patenting ensures that the benefits of research and development can be wrapped up, retained and protected to give a competitive edge in the marketplace. Combined with effective policing of patent rights, a company can establish itself firmly in a particular field, and can prevent its competitors from riding on the wave of its investment.
Although patenting can be reasonably expensive, a patent has a high presumption of validity, because the claims of a patent are thoroughly searched by the Patent Office and the claims are examined in detail by a Patent Examiner. This high presumption of validity means that companies respect patent rights and do not tend to infringe patents deliberately. The cost of bringing a patent action before the courts is high, but alleged cases of infringement rarely come to court, with disputes usually being settled early.
A patent may protect an invention, but this does not mean that the invention is free for use. A competing company may already have protected core features associated with the same invention. This situation can arise, for example, when a company takes a competitor product and improves it. Although the improvement may well be patentable in its own right, it may also be covered by the competitor’s earlier patent. In this position, patent protection of the improvement can be vital in order to negotiate, for example, a cross-licence agreement to enable the improvement to be sold.
In today’s marketplace, we believe that it is more important than ever to be IP ( intellectual property ) aware. Keep your competitors at bay with strategic IP protection and give certainty to retaining your market share.
