The patent application

A patent is a text document that describes your technical invention, supplemented with claims, drawings or examples of the invention. First of all the text describes the state of the art in the field of your invention. It also states for what technical problem your invention provides a solution. The claims state what exactly you wish to protect by means of the patent. In practice, it is wise to engage a specialist who can accurately describe your invention on the basis of strict legal rules. That specialist is a patent attorney: a title protected by law that is given only to academically trained professionals. The patent attorney will draw up the patent application and submit it to the authorities: the Dutch Patent Office in Rijswijk, the Netherlands.