Why Governments May Refuse to Issue Patents
A patent is the exclusive right to make use of an invention, granted by the government to the inventor. The government may refuse to issue a patent if it fails to meet certain criteria.
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Not New
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If the patent office decides that an innovation described in the patent application is not different enough from already existing inventions, it will deny the patent.
Too Similar to Other Patent
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If the patent office decides that a patent application is materially the same as another patent already on file, it will deny the patent. When two people come up with similar inventions, the one who files for a patent first usually ends up being successful.
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Not Useful
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If the patent office decides that the invention described in the patent application is not useful, it may deny the patent.
Not the Inventor
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If the patent office finds that the person filing for the patent did not invent the innovation, they will deny the patent.
Humanitarian Reasons
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In some cases, usually dealing with medicines, governments may decided to deny or limit patent rights in order to make the drugs more widely available.
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