Patents

Patents in Argentina have a duration of 20 years, counted from the filing date of the application.

Patents must have novelty, inventive step and industrial application.
“Novelty” is everything that is not included in the state of the art , being this as knowledge that was known prior to the filing of the patent application. The territorial scope of novelty must be absolute, i.e. it must be new anywhere in the world.
“Inventive step” means that the creative process or the results of the invention must not be deduced from the state of the art in a way that is obvious to a person ordinarily skilled in the technical subject matter of the invention.
“Industrial application” implies that the invention is not merely theoretical but can be applicable to industry.

Because patenting an invention allows:
– To enjoy the exclusive exploitation of the invention, which means that only the holder will be able to commercialize it.
– Prevent competitors from copying the patented products or processes.
– Obtain income through licenses or assignments of the patent.

Patents protected by territory. This implies that the applicant must file an application in each country where it is wished to have exclusive marketing rights. If your aim is to export and you wish to prevent your invention from being copied, you must apply for and obtain a patent from the corresponding patent office in each country where you seek to have exclusive rights.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Argentine Patent Law, the following shall not be considered inventions:
(a) Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
b) Literary or artistic works or any other aesthetic creation, as well as scientific works;
c) Plans, rules and methods for the exercise of intellectual activities, for games or for economic-commercial activities, as well as computer programs;
d) The forms of presentation of information;
e) The methods of surgical, therapeutic or diagnostic treatment applicable to the human body and those relative to animals;
f) The juxtaposition of known inventions or mixtures of known products, their variation of form, dimensions or materials, except in the case combination or merger thereof, in such a way that they cannot function separately or that their characteristic qualities or functions are modified in order to obtain an industrial result not obvious to a person skilled in the art; and
g) All kinds of living matter and substances pre-existing in nature.

Likewise, the regulation establishes that the following shall not be patentable:
(a) Inventions whose exploitation in the territory of the Argentine Republic must be prevented in order to protect public order or morality, the health or life of persons or animals or to preserve plants or avoid serious damage to the environment;
b) The totality of the biological and genetic material existing in nature or replications thereto, in the biological processes implicit in animal, plant and human reproduction, including the genetic processes related to the material capable of conducting its own duplication under normal and free conditions, as it occurs in nature;
c) Plants and animals, except microorganisms and essentially biological processes for their production, without prejudice to the special protection conferred by Law 20247 and that which may eventually result in accordance with international conventions to which the country is member.