Legal Q&A
Q
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I work at a chemical engineering company, and during an experiment I developed a chemical technology that can be used in industry. However, if this technology is misused, it could also be used for narcotics, so I feel cautious. I would like to obtain a patent, but because there is a strong concern that it could be used for crime, I am also afraid. Are inventions that are difficult to patent classified separately? If there is an intellectual property attorney, I would like to ask.
intellectual property attorney
intellectual property litigation
Answer
Published:
Author : Kuk Il KIM
Not all inventions are subject to a patent, and in order to be registered as a patent, several requirements must be met at the time of application.
1. It must not be known to the general public (novelty)
A patent cannot be registered for an invention that, before the patent application, was publicly known within the country or abroad, or that was described in a publication distributed within the country or abroad.
2. It must be recognized as an advance over prior technology (inventive step)
Before the patent application, the invention must have a degree of creative difficulty such that a person having ordinary skill in the technical field to which the invention belongs could not easily have made it from the publicly known inventions at the time of the application.
It must have industrial applicability
An invention that lacks industrial applicability cannot be patented, even if it possesses novelty and an inventive step.
In addition, even if all of the above requirements are met, an invention that is contrary to public order or good morals, or that risks harming public hygiene, cannot be patented.
In order to examine these requirements in detail and proceed with a patent, it is advisable to obtain a legal review through the advice of an intellectual property attorney.

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Kuk Il KIM
T. 070-5117-2950
Experience as Chief Prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office · Attorney Specializing in Criminal Law/Drugs/Intellectual Property
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