Patent protects "innovative" inventions. Inventions that have been patented, recorded in publications, publicly sold, used or otherwise known to others, or that others have filed patent applications and recorded them in patent documents that will be published or presumed to be published in the future, cannot be protected by patents. However, if it is disclosed by the inventor himself or the person who directly or indirectly obtained the invention from the inventor within 1 year before the patent application date, it will not lose its novelty.