Patents

Patents is a form of [blank_start]legal protection[blank_end] that is needed when a product is released to the market to avoid the ideas being copied

If an inventor or designer can prove that [blank_start]an invention is theirs[blank_end], they can be granted a patent.

Patents are granted by the state exclusive rights to make, use or sell a new invention for a set period (normally up to 20 years) in most countries. In exchange, patent holders must allow the details of their invention to be made public.

Patents only contain enough information on the idea to know how it works. This includes basic drawings and illustrations but nothing with technical detail.

Once a patent is granted, the invention becomes the legal property of the state.

These are the 4 criteria, used by the UK Patent Office, for patent to be granted: It must be [blank_start]new[blank_end]. It must not have been shown or discussed [blank_start]publicly[blank_end] anywhere prior to the patent application being filed. It must involve an [blank_start]inventive[blank_end] step. The idea must not be obvious to someone with reasonable prior knowledge of subject. It must be capable of being [blank_start]industrially made[blank_end]. it must take the [blank_start]physical[blank_end] form of substance, product or and industrial process. It must not be [blank_start]excluded[blank_end]. An invention is not [blank_start]patentable[blank_end] if it is on the excluded list issued by the patent Office

Which of these things could be excluded from patents