Can you patent something by claiming to cobble together a bunch of other patented things? Wouldn’t the references negate the “novelty” part of getting a patent?
In: Economics
Not really.
Bicycles have wheels, so if you invented a bicycle you might want to reference the wheel. But your bicycle is obviously a novel invention and not just an obvious application of prior work.
Smartphones couldn’t have been built without many other patents from screens, microchips, transmitters, and thousands and thousands of more.
Modern cars contain products dependent on tens of thousands of patents, but all of them build upon prior technologies.
When you go to register a patent part of the process is to demonstrate how the new invention represents an advance over this prior art. The inventor’s patent attorney and/or the examiner may also add prior art references to either clarify or limit the claims of the new invention.
If you make a part, and it uses a bolt to hold it in place, you want to make it clear you are not trying to patent the use of a bolt. That would get your patent rejected out of hand.
The concept of references is to show the patent examiner that you have studied the relevant art and know what ideas you have built upon. It makes you look serious, an someone who does their homework and crafts a narrow, defensible patent.
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