Patent Law in Iran

Disclaimer

What is a patent?

Patent is a right granted by a State to an inventor to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing an invention for a limited time.

What can be patented?

Under Iranian laws anything that goes under two categories can be patented:
1. Any novel technological innovation and
2. Any innovative tool or any process to achieve a new technological or agricultural product or result.

What may not be patented?

Financial schemes, innovations that would run counter to public order or moralities and pharmaceutical formulas and processes may not be patented under Iranian laws.

What happens if an invention is made public before a patent application is filed?

An inventor cannot patent an invention if he or she discloses it to the public before the date of filing the patent application, whether in Iran or outside of Iran. This obviously does not include the case where a patent is filed and obtained outside Iran and has been disclosed to the relevant foreign patent office for this reason. In this respect, the provisions of the Patent Cooperation Treaty regarding the ‘priority date’, which will be the same as the date when the applicant has first applied for obtaining the patent in any country that is a member of the treaty, must also be taken into account.

If a patent is registered outside Iran what is the dead-line for the applicant to claim the priority in Iran?

There is a six-month time to provide the Companies and Industrial Property Registry Administration with a certified copy (by the Patent Office of the original country) of the relevant documents.  An additional six-month time may be granted if required.

What is a claim's "priority date"?

A claim's priority date is the date upon which the technical disclosure that fully describes the invention covered by that claim is first filed with some patent office somewhere in the world.

How long does the protection provided by the patent last?

Upon request of the applicant, the patent’s term can be for a 10, 15 or at maximum, 20 years term. Patents are not renewable.

What does it mean to obtain a license for a patent?

A license, in its simplest terms, is a promise by the patent owner (the licensor) not to sue the licensee for exercising one of the patent owner's rights. Patent laws grant the patent owner rights to exclude others from making, using, or selling the patented invention. Using a contract called a "license", a patent owner may choose to allow one or more others to make, use and/or sell the invention, usually against material consideration.

Who may own a patent?

The presumptive owner of an invention is the human inventor(s). The inventor may transfer ownership to anyone (including a corporation). Employees often assign the rights to their invention to their employers as part of their employment contracts.

Are patents assignable?

The patent laws provide that patents shall have the attributes of personal property, and as such, they can be assigned by a written document. The inventor, who is initially the presumed owner of the patent rights to the invention, may transfer ownership to anyone, including a corporation.

What is due diligence?

Due diligence as applicable to Intellectual Property is an investigation that, among other things, tries to determine and sheds light on what the intellectual property at hand is, who owns the rights to the property, and whether those rights are enforceable. The information can then be used to evaluate the viability of a particular business transaction.

Is it possible that a patent granted by the Industrial Property Registry Administration be annulled?

Technically speaking, yes, it is possible and is done by initiating an action before the public courts of IRI.
The instances in which the court may decide to annul a patent would be as follows:
I. The claimed invention is not novel.
II. Legal procedures and/or provisions have not been followed in the course of exploration leading to obtainment of the patent.
III. The invention has no practical use or is incapable of such use.
IV. The invention has not been commercialized within five years after the date of granting the patent.

What is the role of Industrial Property Registry Administration after granting the patent?

All changes in name and address of the owner of the patent must as well be registered with this office; documents relating to the licensing or assignment of a patent must also be filed with this office failing which it will not be considered valid.

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