When engineering students enter a competition do they loose their right to patent their inventions?

Answer 1

The first thing you should do is check the competition rules associated with submission of your invention.

Normally the submission of an invention does not mean that the inventor will lose the right to obtain a patent. Despite what has been answered by others, in the United States you do not lose the ability to obtain a patent once the invention has been made public. US patent laws give the inventor a 12 month grace period from the time of certain activities within which to apply for a patent. If you publish an article describing your invention, sell it or use it publicly you have 12 months from the date of the particular trigger event within which to file a US patent application. If it is revealed prior to filing a patent application you would, however, lose any right to file a patent application outside the United States. Similarly, if your invention included a trade secret you would lose the trade secret upon the secret being made public. For more information on patent law see:

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/patent.html

Finally, although the US is a first to invent country you are always better off filing a patent application sooner rather than later. I always encourage inventors to file before entering competitions, seeking funding or submitting the invention to companies. This is the safest thing to do because by filing an application you lock in your rights to your invention.

Answer 2

Most companies - and, regrettably, most universities - have some sort of "by law" in their legal mumbo jumbo that basically boils down to the fact that using the (insert company or university name here)'s materials or processes or equipment automatically puts the intellectual property rights to whatever is being proposed as belonging to the (company or university), rather than the individual.

This means that as long as the devlopment of your idea has a hint of your company or university background in it, it doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the larger entity.

The earlier statement by another answerer (file first for patent, THEN submit to competition) regarding your rights as an "inventor" hold true, as long as the invention did not involve corporate sponsorship in any form. Which basically means you did it on your own time, with your own money, away from the school or corporation.

On the good side - if you get the school or corporation to talk to you in the early stages of development, you can get some sort of compensation for your idea - and possibly even mention in the patent documentation.

Answer 3

I dont believe entering the competition requires that, however submitting something with the University's name on it generally makes it the intellectual property of the University. That is true regardless of whether its entered into a competition or simply turned in as a final project.

Answer 4

Once an invention is made known to the general public, it can no longer be patented. Displaying it or publishing a paper on an invention makes it general knowledge and it can no longer be protected.

Answer 5

Many competitions, and universities have clauses stating any intellectual works including inventions produced at the university are the property of the organiser or institution.

These clauses are for the most part unenforcable- although the university or competition can disqualify or penalise you to try to assert their clause.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

no they cant lose