What's patentable?

To be granted a patent, an invention must have technical or functional features.  It must also (a) be new and (b) involve an "inventive step".

(a) means that the invention must not have been publicly disclosed before, by anyone (including you!), at any time, in any country and language, whether orally or in writing or by use or display of the invention itself.  This is why it's so important to keep your invention confidential until after you've filed a patent application – if you must disclose it to anyone, only do so under a written confidentiality agreement.

(b) is patent jargon and it means that the invention should not be an obvious or trivial development over things which are already known.  We can advise how the Patent Office and courts might interpret this in any given case.

Some types of idea are not patentable even if they are new and inventive.  These include, under European patent laws, purely aesthetic works (which are protected by copyright instead), mathematical methods and formulae, rules for playing games, business methods and many forms of computer program.  In the US things are different, and business methods and computer programs can be validly patented.

We can advise whether your invention falls into any of these categories and if it does, what alternative forms of protection might be available.