Patents give the inventor exclusive rights over his invention for a limited time. This provides an incentive and securities for bringing new and innovative products to the market. Patents also prevent secrecy and provide freely accessible technical knowledge because they are published 18 months after their filing. The European Patent Convention (EPC) constitutes the legal framework for the granting of patents in all fields of technology in its 36 member states [1]. Inventions can be patented if they are novel, involve an inventive step (i.e. are not obvious over the state of the art) and are susceptible to industrial application. Some subject- scientific theories, or programs for computers as such, are not regarded as inventions and can thus not be patented. Also the patenting of subject-matter which would be contrary to "ordre public" or morality is exempted. This prevents for example the patenting of a letter-bomb or of (synthetic) biological weapons.
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