When preparing to apply for a U.S. patent, it is very important to understand what is defined as, constitutes or is considered prior art because the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) requires that the invention must be novel and different from the prior art.
Prior art is any invention that has been patented in the United States or other countries or regions, publicly disclosed in publications or on the Internet, or known to the public before the applicant files a patent application in the United States.
In other words, prior art can prove that your invention was known to the public before the application was filed with the USPTO.
Why should patent applicants pay attention to prior art?
In order to apply for a patent for an invention in the United States, the applicant must prove that his invention is novel and non-obvious. To prove this, the applicant must show that his invention is different from previous patents and public disclosures.
If the applicant cannot prove that his invention is different enough from the prior art, the examiner may reject his patent application due to prior art and prohibit the applicant from patenting his invention.
Therefore, it is very important to understand what constitutes prior art and explain how his invention is different from the relevant prior art.
The following are considered prior art:
Selling or offering a product for sale
Using the invention publicly
Patented invention
Expired patent on the invention
Publishing an article about the invention in print or online
Showing the invention to the public
Having a patent application rejected
An invention patented in another country
Once an inventor has disclosed his invention online or in a publication, it doesn’t matter if only a few people read the publication. What matters is that the inventor publicly disclosed the information or made it publicly available. If an inventor does any of the above, he can only file a patent application within 12 months of the public disclosure or sale of the invention. If the inventor does not file a patent application within the 12-month grace period, his patent application will be rejected.
The United States is more relaxed than other countries, which do not provide inventors with a 12-month grace period during which they can file a patent application. An invention cannot be patented once it has been publicly disclosed or sold.
Therefore, if you want to apply for a patent in the United States or other countries, it is best to keep your invention secret until you have filed patent applications in all the countries where you want to obtain a patent.