Inventions may be patentable if they are novel, inventive and have industrial applicability. In addition, the patent application must describe the invention in such a way that a skilled reader can reproduce the claimed invention.

Generally, it is advisable to include experimental data in the patent application at the time of filing, showing that the invention works over the claimed scope. The experimental data is often also essential to support inventive step, for example by showing that the invention has unexpected properties, making it particularly advantageous. Good documentation practice will help you have all the relevant information readily available, whether you need it to prepare a patent application or to discuss patentability of an invention you made with a patent attorney.

When presenting experimental results in a patent application, it is very important that the information provided is accurate. Failure to do so may, if perceived by a court as intentional, make a patent invalid or unenforceable. Good documentation practice, as described in this course, will help you ensure that what you include in your patent application corresponds to the experiments and results that you in fact achieved.

Good documentation practice may also help getting the inventorship determination right. Inventorship is a legal matter and is different from authorship. Only the individual or individuals who conceived the claimed invention and had a clear appreciation of how to reduce it to practice, are inventors. Colleagues who merely assisted in experimental work or in the manufacture of prototypes are generally not inventors. It is important that the inventorship indicated on a patent application is correct. In some countries, incorrect inventorship may render the patent unenforceable.