Right, i thought as much.
However, that site also says "Patents are territorial, in effect e.g. an Irish patent is only valid in Ireland."
The device i had in mind is not being manufactured, insofar as i can tell. Now maybe it's because the US patent holders are justing sitting on it and not allowing manufacture.
Is a US Patent enforceable, or valid in the EU?
I presume it is.
I'm not sure what the point of having an irish patent is, if that's the case.
(instead should people just try to get a us one?)
Also, if i attempted to patent my device, who's responsibilty would it be to determine the Novelty component? What if i didn't know the same device is already patented. Could there be enough differences between my design and the existing one that it is now patentable?