Before considering the question of ownership discoveries and inventions to objects of patent rights, it is important to understand their differences and how they relate to each other
Discoveries and inventions are united by the presence of novelty in them,
they are rarely mutually exclusive, but rather are closely interrelated.
For example, the discovery of electricity led to the development of electrical engineering and the creation of various electrical devices, and the invention of the microscope allowed scientists to explore the microworld in more detail, and telescopes - the universe, discovering new planets and entire galaxies. Discoveries in genetics and biology have made it possible to create new ways to treat patients and develop healthcare and agriculture.
However, discovery is different from invention
those that relate to new achievements obtained in the process of scientific knowledge of nature and society and the establishment of previously unknown, objectively existing patterns, properties and phenomena of the material world. Discoveries make a significant contribution to the level of knowledge, creating new directions in science and technology.
And an invention, in accordance with Part 4 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, is recognized as a new and significantly different technical solution to a problem in any field and related to a product (device, substance, microorganism strain, plant or animal cell culture) or method (the process of performing actions on a material object using material means).
It should be noted that establishing the presence of a discovery or invention is not so simple, since discoveries usually serve as the source of inventions and, conversely, inventions as sources of discoveries.
But
Only an invention, according to the law, is the subject of patent rights.
The inventions include:
- devices (a product without component parts (parts) or consisting of two or more parts interconnected by assembly operations, located in a functional and structural unity) and complexes (two or more products not connected in production by assembly operations, but necessary to perform interrelated tasks;
- sets (two or more products that are not connected by assembly operations and have a general operational purpose);
- substances (chemical compounds, compositions, products of nuclear transformation);
- strains of microorganisms, plant or animal cell cultures;
- genetic and protein constructs (plasmids, stably transformed cells of microorganisms, plants and animals, transgenic plants and animals, as well as biologically active constructs in which one or more components are characterized by an amino acid sequence);
- methods of influencing a material object using material means.
It should be noted that to characterize devices, features such as the presence of parts with parts, assemblies, blocks, their relative position, parameters, material, etc. are used. To characterize compositions - their qualitative and quantitative composition, structure, and to characterize a method - the presence of an action or set of actions, the order of their implementation and the conditions for implementation.
It is known that, in accordance with current patent law
discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods, product design, rules and methods of games, etc. are not inventions and for this reason they cannot be patented as inventions
. That is, the current Civil Code of the Russian Federation (part four), while defining the grounds for the emergence and procedure for exercising exclusive rights to the results of intellectual activity, does not regulate legal relations related to scientific discoveries.
their authors can protect their copyrights
and priority by depositing information thanks to the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS), which registers discoveries in the field of social and human sciences, as well as scientific ideas and scientific hypotheses, with the issuance of diplomas confirming the recognition of scientific achievements by discoveries, securing authorship and priority.
Under the leadership of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the International Academy of Authors of Scientific Discoveries and Inventions also operates, whose specialists conduct an independent examination of applications for discoveries and, based on the results obtained, issue diplomas confirming the recognition of a scientific achievement as a discovery. All information about issued diplomas is entered into the register of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and IAANOiI. Thanks to this, favorable conditions are created for the widespread use of information about scientific discoveries and the interest of scientists in basic scientific research is stimulated.
