Learn from the Past, Create the Future: Inventions …

1 LEARNFROMTHEPAST, CREATETHEFUTURE: Inventions and PatentsFor more information contact WIPO at Intellectual Property Organization34, chemin des Box 18 CH-1211 Geneva 20 SwitzerlandTelephone:+41 22 338 91 11 Fax:+41 22 733 54 28 WIPO Publication No. 925 ESeptember 2010 editionISBN 978-92-805-1431-5925E-CaP-2010_Layout 1 10:47 Page1 Disclaimer: The main purpose of this publication is to provide basic information, it isnot meant as a substitute for professional legal advice. Mention of names of firms andorganizations and their websites does not imply the endorsement of WIPO. World Intellectual Property Organization, 2007 Text: Maria de IcazaGraphic Design: Sheyda Navab925E-CaP-2010_Layout 1 10:47 Page2 Learn FROM THEPAST, Create THEFUTURE: Inventions and Patents2 PREFACEINVENTIONSWhat are Inventions ?

2 How do we know when Inventions were first invented?Game Inventions of Ancient CivilizationsHow are Inventions invented? Inventions improve our lives Game Inventor Match-makerPATENTSWhat are patents?Why are patents important?When were patents invented?Modern patent lawsHow do inventors obtain patents?When should an invention be patented?What happens if an invention is not patented?Are patented Inventions protected worldwide?Can there be different inventors for the same invention ?Patents are a wonderful source of informationThe PCT GazetteGame PCT DetectiveContents3 BECOME AN INVENTORI dentify a need or a problemResearchExperiment and keep an open mindApply for a patentEnter a competitionCommercialize your inventionGame Patent JourneyFINAL THOUGHTSINVENTION JOURNALANSWERS TO GAMESGLOSSARYFURTHER READINGSELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYO nline SourcesNOTE TO TEACHERS Inventions and Patents is the first of WIPO s Learn from the past , Create the futureseries of publications aimed at young students.

3 This series was launched in recognition of the importance of children andyoung adults as the creators of our future . The first two parts of this publication are designed toprovide basic information about Inventions and aim is to communicate the importance ofinventors, their Inventions and patents through games,thought provoking exercises and concrete three provides a roadmap for invention andencourages young students to invent and patenttheir the end of this publication are detailed answersto the games, an inventor s glossary and an inventionjournal to track the young inventor s of a WIPO gold medal at the 2003 To be an Inventor challenge in Tayside, Scotland.

4 These Netherlee Primary Schoolstudents invented a Floodbuster device to prevent the bath fromoverflowing when are Inventions ?Generally speaking, an inventionis a new product or process that solves atechnical problem. This is different from a discovery, which is somethingthat already existed but had not been , for example, the telescope and the mountains ofthe moon. The telescope is an invention that was created in1608 when Hans Lipperhey, a Dutch eyeglass maker,combined convex and concave glasses at either end of atube. It was only with the invention of the telescope thathumans (Galileo Galilei to be precise) were able to look farenough into the sky to see the mountains of the didn t invent these mountains, he discovered them -with the help of an as Inventions can lead to discoveries, discoveries can sometimes alsolead to Inventions .

5 For example, Benjamin Franklin s discovery of theelectrical effects of lightning led him to invent the lightning rod around1752. This invention is still in use today and has madebuildings much safer places during the beginning of time, humans everywhere havebeen inventing. In fact, most of what is around younow was invented by someone in the past . We havegrown so used to these things, however, that weoften don t think of them as about the alphabet that we are using to communicateright now. The ink and paper that these words are written clothes you are wearing.

6 The chair you are sitting on. All of these areinventions and there is a person, a human mind, behind each of about it:What other Inventions have led to discoveries?What other discoveries have led to Inventions ?How many Inventions can you identify in this scene?What would your world be like without Inventions ? Inventions are essential to our everyday life and yet most people knowvery little about their do we know when Inventions were first invented?Many Inventions were invented thousands of years ago so it can bedifficult to know their exact origins. Sometimes scientists discover amodel of an early invention and from this model they can accurately tellus how old it is and where it came from.

7 However, there is always thepossibility that in the future other scientists will discover an even oldermodel of the same invention in a different part of the world. In fact, we are forever discovering the history of ancient example of this is the invention of pottery. For many years archeologistsbelieved that pottery was first invented in the Near East(around modern Iran) where they had found pots datingback to 9,000 BC. In the 1960s, however, older potsfrom 10,000 BC were found on Honshu Island, is always a possibility that in the futurearcheologists will find even older pots somewhere archeologists can only find pictures orwritten references of an ancient invention .

8 Though theyare proof that the invention existed, texts and picturescan make it difficult to determine when, where and by whomthe invention was is the case of the compass. Scholars have found a clear descriptionof a sinan(navigational device) in a Chinese text dating back more thantwo thousand years. While no actual models of this invention have beenfound to date, the description in thisancient text leads us to believe that thisancient form of compass was invented asSinan model by Susan Silvermancourtesy of Smith College, History ofScience and Technology Programearly as 2400 years ago in China, and it took more than 1000 years for itto be introduced to the West (via Arab traders)

9 In the 13thCentury scientists are very lucky, they find texts that not only mention pastinventions but also describe them in great detail and even reveal the nameof the inventor and the approximate date of the invention . In these caseswe have concrete proof of when, where and by whom the invention wascreated and we can give proper credit to the is how we know, for example, about the Greco-Egyptianengineer Heron of Alexandria who created countless machines inthe late first century AD. Also known as mekanicos(machineman), Heron was famous in his time for his numerous Inventions ,especially his automatic machines that included a steamengine, a coin-operated slot machine and automatic , different ancient civilizations independentlyinvented very similar items.

10 For example, almost everyancient civilization invented mirrors. Ancient mirrorsmade of polished volcanic glass (obsidian) havebeen found in Turkey and Mesoamerica, whilepolished bronze or copper mirrors were madeby the inhabitants of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China,Greece, Rome, and the Indus modern times, patents help us to determine when, whereand by whom an invention was invented. The second chapter inthis book will give you more information about the use of s steamengine model byKaren Fishercourtesy ofSmith College,History ofScience andTechnologyProgram9 AlaskaMexicoEgypt RussiaIraqChina AustraliaKiteChocolateLighthouseWheelBoo merangSnow GogglesSkis*See page 55 for answersGame* Inventions of Ancient CivilizationsSome Inventions from thousands of years ago are still in use today.