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What Is An invention?

An invention must have three characteristics; it must be novel, useful, and enabled. If it is not novel, it is considered unpatentable public knowledge; if it is not useful, it cannot be patented, and if it is not enabled, it is not an invention, only an idea for an invention.

Almost nobody except for your friends has any interest in ideas for inventions.

Novelty:
This seems straightforward, but it is surprising what is considered novel and what is not. In the last analysis, novelty is what the patent examiner - or the courts - determine it to be. That is why the services of an excellent patent attorney are paramount.

Utility:
This means that the invention must perform some useful function. The patent office won't accept applications for perpetual motion machines since there is the assumption that they can't work. A related characteristic is embodiment, meaning the invention must exist in some physical form, rather than as a concept. In the past this was taken to disallow algorithm patents, but lately the courts have held that software is an embodiment if it produces a useful result.

Enablement:
Not too long ago, an inventor had to supply a model of his invention to the patent office. That is no longer the case; one only has to supply a verbal description, with accompanying drawings, which would allow someone "skilled in the art" to make the invention. Basically, you can't hold back any important information from the public, but you don't need to describe things in such detail that anyone at all can practice the invention. Again, experience and a good patent counsel is very important in determining what needs to be disclosed.

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