Patents

[rkd]

Hi,

A friend got sole distributorship of a product in Ireland. The product comes with varying designs on it and he came up with an idea to put a certain practical use design on it and got them to produce it for him. He unfortunately released it to the marketplace before looking for a patent.
Can anyone tell me does a patent apply even if you are only making changes to another person's product as he has above!? And if it is released to market does that mean it cannot be patented anywhere in the world or just the Irish market where it has been released!?

If he was to come up with other practical uses and/or designs for this product what patenting options or avenues should be pursued!? Assuming my general direction of thought is there anything else anyone can add?

Any help appreciated,
R

 

[stretched]

Hi rkd,
"Can anyone tell me does a patent apply even if you are only making changes to another person's product as he has above!? "
Yes it is possible to file a patent for "improvements" to an existing device, but it must be novel in some way, and not an obvious "next step" to someone "skilled in the art".
The fact that he got the original manufacturer to make the improvements, may mean that they would have some ownership of the intellectual property (if there is any in this case-due to disclosure-see below).
The device is on the market, so that means that is now considered prior art, as it has been disclosed, so it would not be possible to patent in Europe, but there may still be a possibility in the US, as thay allow a period of 1 year after disclosure in which to file a patent.
Your friend would be well advised to visit a patent attorney, as the area is complex.
Good luck