ABSTRACT
This chapter only intends as a general outline of how certain types of intellectual property work and how this applies to biotechnology. In order to understand the relevant intellectual property rights it is necessary to look at these rights in a little detail as each tend to have their own rules both as to how they arise and how they work. The inventor is sometimes mystified as to how his patent can be invalid. However this can arise in a number of ways. Firstly no search is perfect, and there may be other more relevant items of prior art which the Examiner did not find or know about. In civil law countries the tribunal not infrequently refers the technical aspects of the dispute to an independent expert, who prepares a report for the court and which tends to be unchallengeable in the later proceedings.
