Filed, Published & Granted Patents: What’s The Difference?

The route from patent application to protection has three key phases: filing, publishing and grant.

In simple terms, filing is when the patent application is submitted. It is then published, meaning details of the application are made public whilst it is examined against patentability criteria.

After this, the patent application may be granted. This is the stage that brings the entitlement to enforce rights.

It is a common misconception that a patent application being filed or published means it is protected in the same way as a granted patent. Typically, enforceable rights only come with a patent grant.

Our patent experts have broken the process down into a little more detail, with some strategic pointers to consider.