Before you start
You do not need to know anything about patents to begin, and you do not need anything special ready. This page tells you what you really need, what you can do without, and one important thing not to do before you file. Read it calmly, then open your first dossier.
What to start from
You have two ways in, and you can use both together.
Just the idea. Write a few lines in your own words, the way you would tell a colleague: the problem, how you solve it, with which parts. There is no form to fill in and no right way to write. The page tells you when you have written enough to open the dossier.
A document you already have. If a data sheet, a presentation, a report or an article describing your invention already exists, upload it. PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OpenDocument, RTF and plain text all work. Images and PDFs that are only scans cannot be read: you need a document with real text. Each file can be up to 25 MB.
If you do not know where to begin, begin with the idea. In the questions that follow you can add everything that is missing.
What helps, if you have it
None of this is compulsory. The more you have, the fewer questions you will get and the more precise the result will be. If you do not have something, write "I don't know": that is fine.
| If you have it | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| The problem the invention solves | Everything starts from here: it says why your solution is needed. |
| How it works, step by step | It lets the invention be described so that others could build it. |
| The parts it is made of | Each important part will get a name and a number, used later in the text and in the drawings. |
| What already exists, as far as you know | Products, patents or articles you know of: they help to see what sets your idea apart. |
| Sketches, photos, diagrams | Even freehand: they show the shape and layout of the parts. |
| Variants | Other ways of doing the same thing. One more variant can widen what you can protect. |
| Numbers and measures | Sizes, materials, values, ranges. A concrete figure is worth more than an adjective. |
What an invention is, in two lines
An invention is a technical solution to a technical problem: something new, not obvious to someone who knows the field, and that can be made and used in industry. Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods are not inventions as such (Art. 52 of the European Patent Convention, EPC; Art. 45 of the Italian Industrial Property Code).
The chapter What can be patented explains these rules with examples.
What not to do before you file
Do not make your invention public before you have filed the application. In Europe a disclosure made before filing can destroy novelty, and without novelty there is no patent.
The rule. The state of the art comprises everything made available to the public before the date of filing, by a written or oral description, by use, or in any other way (Art. 54, paragraph 2, EPC). Italy applies the same principle (Art. 46, paragraph 2, of the Italian Industrial Property Code). Something already public is no longer new.
So, until you have filed:
- do not post it on a website, a blog, social media or a forum;
- do not present it at a fair, a conference or a demonstration open to the public;
- do not send it to anyone who has not agreed to keep it confidential, and do not show a prototype in public;
- do not put it on sale and do not offer it to potential customers without a confidentiality agreement;
- do not publish a scientific paper, a thesis or a poster that describes it.
Talking about it with a partner, a collaborator or your patent attorney is normal, as long as there is a duty of confidence, preferably in writing.
The exceptions are few and narrow. The rules allow two: an evident abuse against the applicant, and display at official or officially recognised international exhibitions. Under the EPC, in both cases the disclosure is disregarded only if it happened in the six months before filing (Art. 55 EPC); Art. 47 of the Italian Industrial Property Code provides for similar cases in Italy. Do not count on it: the safe way is not to disclose.
If you have already disclosed something, it does not mean all is lost, but talk to a patent attorney straight away.
How long it takes
A dossier moves forward step by step, with your confirmation at every stage. The waits in each step are a few minutes: the page tells you beforehand, for example "About a minute" or "A few minutes". During the longest waits you are invited to grab a coffee.
You spend the biggest part of the time yourself: answering the questions, reading what you are shown and confirming. There is no hurry: you can do it all in one sitting, or stop and pick it up another day.
The full picture of the steps, with the time of each, is in the chapter Seven steps in Zenit.
Your dossier stays saved
You can close the page whenever you like, even while Zenit is working: the dossier stays saved. When you come back, it picks up exactly where you left it. The list of your dossiers, open and complete, each at the step where it stands, is on the Desk.
If a dossier is interrupted, for instance by a system restart, you lose nothing: you find a "Resume" button.
What you get, and what you do not
At the end you get a dossier: a draft patent application, with description, claims, drawings and abstract, together with everything that helped to write it, such as the prior-art search and the strategy.
It is a draft to review with a registered patent attorney (in Italian, a «mandatario») before you file. The attorney is the qualified professional who represents you before patent offices. They check the draft, correct it and file it, and Zenit cannot take their place.
The result is not legal advice. It does not promise that the patent will be granted or that it will be valid. Nor does it guarantee that no prior art or third-party rights exist. The prior-art search is always "within the limits of the search carried out": if it finds nothing, that is not proof that your idea is new.
Ready to begin
This page is general information, not legal advice: for a real application always ask a patent attorney. When you are ready, open a new dossier and tell the idea. To see what happens next, go to Seven steps in Zenit.
Sources
- Art. 54 EPC, Novelty: https://www.epo.org/en/legal/epc/2020/a54.html (read on 2026-10-05)
- Art. 55 EPC, Non-prejudicial disclosures: https://www.epo.org/en/legal/epc/2020/a55.html (read on 2026-10-05)
- Italian IP Code (D.Lgs. 30/2005), art. 46, paragraph 2 (Novelty), Normattiva: https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2005-02-10;30~art46 (read on 2026-10-05)
- Italian IP Code (D.Lgs. 30/2005), art. 47 (Non-prejudicial disclosures), Normattiva: https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2005-02-10;30~art47 (read on 2026-10-05)
- Art. 52 EPC, Patentable inventions: https://www.epo.org/en/legal/epc/2020/a52.html (read on 2026-10-05)
- Italian IP Code (D.Lgs. 30/2005), art. 45 (Subject of the patent), Normattiva: https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:decreto.legislativo:2005-02-10;30~art45 (read on 2026-10-05)