Submitting an invention is simple and secure.

If you’ve a general query or feedback, please use the “Send Us Feedback” tab at the bottom of every page. For invention-related queries, log in to your account and use the “Add/View Notes” section of your submission to ask your question. Please mention the submission reference number.

Yes, if we approve your idea at the initial review stage. When you first share your idea with us through the general submission route, it should be non-confidential information only and you’ll describe it in words. If we can see its potential, you’ll join the confidential privileged submission route and will give us the full story. You’ll complete a new template that will let you submit a detailed description of your invention, plus supporting figures, images and presentations.

We reject ideas for a number of reasons. Sometimes not enough information is provided for us to assess the potential of the idea. We need the details to evaluate its feasibility and commercial value.

We also reject ideas because they are too similar to something that already exists: what’s known as ‘the existence of prior art in the public domain.’ Without this originality, ideas aren’t patentable.

Finally, we reject ideas that don’t fit with our future vision and strategy. We accept some ‘out of domain submissions’, but far fewer than those which sit within our key areas of interest.

One of the main reasons we reject inventions is because they’re too close to something already in the public domain. It’s important to do a thorough internet search before you submit your idea. If you find something similar already exists, we almost certainly will too. The more original and less familiar your idea is, the more chance there is that we’ll approve it for patenting.

In our industry products are normally composed of multiple inventions. This makes it very hard to predict the value of an invention when it isn’t patented. And the problem’s compounded because at first we don’t know what claims will be allowed by patent offices when the patent-is granted.

Sometimes final patent claims aren’t as broad and useful as we hoped for in the beginning. This generally happens despite thorough internal analysis before the patent application is filed. That is why, we’ll give you two standard offers to choose from for every invention submission you make. If we feel that a general submission is interesting and has potential, we’ll promote you to the privileged route. And, at this point, you’ll be able to see these standard offers.