Do I Need a Patent?

What is a patent?
Patents grant the right to exclude others from using (and commercializing) your technology in the country in which the patent is registered for a period of 20 years.

It is important that all researchers consult with Yissum BEFORE pIublishing their research to identify possible commercial value and if a patent is needed to protect it before public disclosure. The term “Public disclosure” includes any web-based publication (article, Archive, abstract of lecture), lecture or other oral presentation, student thesis placed on the HU web sites.

This includes publishing

Bio Archives
Articles
Abstract
Oral or other presentation
Student Thesis

Yissum’s Principle:
We will ensure that the patent will not prevent the researcher from timely publishing and/or presenting the technology for scientific purposes. Initial patents may be “informal” (provisional) based on an article text, There is no need for additional effort by the researcher..

To apply for a patent the technology needs to:

Be new, as compared to in all previous scientific articles or patents that were published
Be inventive (not a trivial change from prior publication)
The patent’s text needs to detail the technology in a manner similar to a scientific article

Please note that patents do not prevent scientists from conducting academic research in the same area, for non-commercial purposes.

Patents issued to the Hebrew University can be utilized commercially in several ways:

They can protect an actual technology/product to be produced.
They can be leveraged to collect fees from another company that needs the patent to produce its own product.
They can be used as means to raise funds for a start-up company or to attract the attention of a commercial entity.

Examples of typical areas where you can get a patent:

Products (new molecules, new biologics, new devices)
Combinations (formulations and compositions made of several known ingredients, systems made of several known elements connected in a new way).
Algorithms, industrial processes of production, diagnostic methods