See also   European Patent Academy   Novelty and prior art  What
is an invention?  For your idea to be regarded as an invention,
at least one significant part of its technology must be
completely novel (that is, new). There must be no evidence that
this novel aspect of your idea has ever been described before,
or used for the same purpose before.  Not all the technology of
an invention needs to be novel.  An idea may be an invention if
existing technologies are combined in a way that is novel, or
used in a way that is novel.  The inventive element might be
only a small part of the whole idea. But if that small part
makes a big difference to the commercial prospects of the idea,
it could be an important and valuable invention.  Many people
claim to have thought of a novel use of technology. The reality
is that in most cases, the idea is already known. It therefore
cannot be novel and so there may be little point trying to
commercialise it. The inventor will usually be unable to protect
it strongly, and without