What is a patent and a Petty patent?

Patent means the official certificate issued by the state organization to protect inventions that they are new, involve an inventive step and are capable of industrial application;

Invention means the technical solution to create new product or process of
production to resolve a specific problem;

 
REQUIREMENTS FOR OBTAINING A PATENT

In order to obtain a patent, an invention shall meet all the following requirements:

1. shall be new: meaning such invention has not existed, not been disclosed to the public by publication, or by use or in any other means in the Lao PDR or any place in the world prior to the date of filing the application for registration or where priority is claimed prior to the priority date of the application for a patent;

2. shall involve an inventive step: meaning that would not be obvious to a person having ordinary knowledge in that field of technology;

3. shall be industrially applicable in industry, handicraft, agriculture, fishery, services, etc.

Term of Protection of Patents 20 years

Petty patent means the official certificate issued by the state organization to protect utility innovation;

Utility innovation means a new innovative work derived through
technical improvements, which involve simpler steps than with inventions;

 
REQUIREMENTS FOR OBTAINING A PETTY PATENT

In order to obtain a petty patent, an utility innovation shall meet all the following requirements:

1. shall be new in the sense that it has not been previously known or used in the Lao PDR within one year prior to the date of application;

2. shall involve a new technical improvement that involves an inventive step which may be a lesser inventive step than required for a patent;

3. shall be industrially applicable in industry, handicraft, agriculture, fishery, services, etc.

Term of Protection of Petty Patents 10 years

What cannot be patented or sub-patented

Inventions or inventions that cannot be applied for a patent or patent are as follows:

  • Inventions or inventions that are not new;
  • Things that are not inventions, such as scientific principles or theories, mathematical formulas or sets of rules for conducting business or playing games;
  • Disease diagnosis methods, treatment methods and surgical methods to treat people and animals;
  • Plants and animals, especially biological processes to produce plants and animals, other than microorganisms;
  • Patents and sub-patents that are against the law, culture or good customs of the nation, national defense, peace protection, sanitation, environment.

Patent and Petty-Patent’s Workflow

Patent or Sub-Patent Registration Procedure