FOR KFUPM INVENTORS

How to Apply for Patents

If you are a KFUPM employee or student, please follow below steps to apply for a patent at KFUPM’s Innovation & Technology Transfer (ITT) office:

SOFT COPY: Download our Invention Disclosure Form (IDF), after completely filling it, save it as PDF and email the file to iao-dtv @ kfupm.edu.sa (DO NOT submit as scan image)
SOFT COPY: Email to iao-dtv @ kfupm.edu.sa a manuscript describing your invention that includes all technical theory and experimental details only in Microsoft Word file (there is no template; format of scientific articles may be used)
HARD COPY: Print the filled IDF, sign (and stamp on Appendix B if applicable) and submit a hard copy at:

Innovation & Technology Transfer office (ITT)

Room# 1153, Ground floor, Innovation Cluster building (# 206), Dhahran Techno Valley

AN INVENTION DISCLOSURE SUBMITTED TO ITT GOES THROUGH FOLLOWING THREE STAGES UNTIL IT IS EITHER ACCEPTED OR REJECTED BY A COUNTRY’S PATENT OFFICE

Stage 1

Commercial Review, Inventorship Analysis, Due Diligence

In the first stage, the commercial potential of the invention is assessed, followed by ‘inventorship analysis’ to determine if the individuals listed as contributors qualify to be inventors. Additionally, further due diligence is performed to determine KFUPM’s rights in the intellectual property.

Stage 2

Prior Art Search, Patent Application Drafting and Filing

Prior-Art Search

The Prior-Art Search is an online search performed by an attorney in local and foreign patent data bases, technical journals to find publicly available documents that may describe something similar to the disclosed invention. If needed the attorney may ask inventor(s) to distinguishing their work with respect to the identified ‘prior art’.

Draft of Patent Application

After the patentability of the invention is determined, the attorney prepares a ‘Draft Application’, a technically and legally written application as prescribed by the concerned Patent Office with inputs from the inventors.

Filing

Once the draft application is finalized, the patent application is filed at a country’s Patent Office.

Stage 3

Examinations by Patent Examiner

After filing, the application will be examined by an examiner assigned by the Patent Office, usually after 18-24 months from the date of filing. The examiner then issues a written report (called as Office Action or examination report), which includes comments on patentability of the claims against prior art. If needed attorney may seek technical input of the inventor(s) before filing a response in the patent office.

There can be none or more than one office action, and the cycle repeats until patent office examiner finally accepts and grants on some or all the claims in the patent application.

It is to be noted that

The time between filing the application and issuance of patent can vary on average between two to three years. The duration of prosecution depends on the type of technology, the patent examiner, the time taken by the inventor to respond to the examiner’s actions (rejection of claims, etc.), the complexity of the invention, and the backlog at the patent office in that category.

Contact

For more information on patent filing or processing, please contact our office

Innovation and Technology Transfer,

Room 1148, Ground Floor, Innovation Cluster building, Dhahran Techno Valley

P.O. Box 5071, Dhahran-31261, Saudi Arabia.

Telephone: +966-13-860-7811 / 8147

Email: iao-dtv @ kfupm.edu.sa