Novelty is a patentability test, according to which an invention is not patentable if it was already known before the date of filing, or before the date of priority if a priority is claimed, of the patent application. Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable or, in other words, it satisfies the patentability requirements if it meets the legal conditions to be granted a patent. ... In patent law, an inventor is the person, or persons in United States patent law, who contribute to the claims of a patentable invention. ... Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable or, in other words, it satisfies the patentability requirements if it meets the legal conditions to be granted a patent. ... The inventive step and non-obviousness reflect a same general patentability requirement present in most patent laws, according to which an invention should be sufficiently inventive, i. ... Utility (patent) or industrial applicability is a patentability test. ... In patent law, industrial applicability or industrial application is a patentability requirement according to which a patent can only be granted for an invention which is susceptible of industrial application, i. ... In most patent laws, prior art or state of the art (the latter term sometimes has other meanings as well) is all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date. ... The person having ordinary skill in the art (often abbreviated PHOSITA in the United States), the person skilled in the art or the man skilled in the art is a legal fiction found in many patent laws throughout the world. ... Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable or, in other words, it satisfies the patentability requirements if it meets the legal conditions to be granted a patent. ... An invention is an object, patent, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. ... The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris, France, on March 20, 1883, is an important and one of the first intellectual property treaties. ... A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for the invention described and claimed by that application. ...

In some countries, such as the United States and Japan, a grace period exists for protecting an inventor or his successor in title from a publication of the invention before the filing date. That is, if the inventor or his successor in title publishes the invention, he can still validly file an application which will be considered novel despite the publication, provided that the filing is made during the grace period following the publication. The grace period is usually 6 or 12 months. This type of novelty bar is sometimes known as a relative novelty bar. In patent law, an inventor is the person, or persons in United States patent law, who contribute to the claims of a patentable invention. ... The filing date of a patent application is the date the patent application was filed in one or more patent offices. ...

In other countries, including European countries, any prior written or oral publication, demonstration or use before filing the patent application, by anybody, anywhere in the world prevents an invention from being patented there. This is known as an absolute novelty requirement. World map showing Europe Political map (neighboring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...

The grace period should not be confused with the priority year defined by Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The priority year starts when the first filing in a Contracting State of the Paris Convention is made, while the grace period starts from the pre-filing publication. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris, France, on March 20, 1883, is an important and one of the first intellectual property treaties. ...

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and... The history of patents and patent laws is generally considered to have started in Italy with a Venetian Statute of 1474. ... Patents are legal instruments intended for controlling technology-driven socio-economic progress and providing a general benefit for the society as a whole. ... Patent prosecution describes the interaction between an Applicant, or their representative, and a patent office with regard to a patent, or an application for a patent. ... A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for the invention described and claimed by that application. ... Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable or, in other words, it satisfies the patentability requirements if it meets the legal conditions to be granted a patent. ... In law, a patent infringement occurs when the subject-matter claimed in a patent has been utilized by someone other than the rightholder, without the owners approval or in disagreement with the terms of use given by the owner. ... It has been suggested that Licensing (strategic alliance) be merged into this article or section. ... European patent law covers a wide range of legislations including national patent laws, the Strasbourg Convention of 1963, the European Patent Convention of 1973, and a number of European Union directives and regulations. ... Japanese patent law is referred to as Tokkyo hou in Japanese. ... The United States patent law is a first-to-invent patent legal framework in contrast to all other national patent laws. ... This is a list of legal concepts relating to patents, including special types of patents and patent applications. ...

United States

In the United States the four most common ways in which an inventor will be barred under Section 102 are:

1. by making the invention known or allowing the public to use the invention; or
2. having the invention published in a fixed medium (such as in a patent, patent application, or journal article); or
3. if the invention was previously invented in the U.S. by another, who has not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed the invention, or
4. if the invention was described in a patent application filed by another, where the application later issues as a US patent.

In U.S. patent law, anticipation occurs when one prior art reference or event discloses all the features of a claim; the claim is then said to lack novelty.

Prior art search

Main article: prior art

The standard method for discovering if a proposed invention is novel is to perform a prior art search. A prior art search may for instance be performed using a keyword search of patent databases. In most patent laws, prior art or state of the art (the latter term sometimes has other meanings as well) is all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date. ...

See also

• Disclaimer (patent)
• Filing date
• Doctrine of inherency
• Prior art (including a discussion on novelty searches)
• Priority right

In patent law, a disclaimer is an amendment consisting in limiting a claim of a patent or patent application by introducing a negative technical feature. ... The filing date of a patent application is the date the patent application was filed in one or more patent offices. ... In most patent laws, prior art or state of the art (the latter term sometimes has other meanings as well) is all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date. ... The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris, France, on March 20, 1883, is an important and one of the first intellectual property treaties. ...

External links

• Enlarged Concept of Novelty on the WIPO site
• Grace Period and Invention Law in Europe and Selected States, a comparative study of grace periods applicable for assessing novelty (on a web site sponsored by the European Commission)
• British Patent Office regulations
• Intellectual property links