07-25-2003, 05:17 PM
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 7,761
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Quote:
Originally posted by fiveyes
Here's a good link for anyone wanting to learn more: Prior Art Tutorial
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What What Can Be Used As Prior Art For Invalidating A Patent?
In essence, any publication, in any language, located anywhere in the world is valid prior art for invalidating a U.S. Patent. One copy of a thesis, written in the Chinese language and stored on a dusty shelf of the Beijing University Library will invalidate any and all U.S. patents that were filed one year after that thesis was published and that claims as an invention ANY of the subject matter that was disclosed in that thesis.
A publication can be, among other things: a thesis, a PHD dissertation, a journal article, a text book, a newspaper article, a patent, a home work assignment, a white paper, written materials handed out during a presentation, a product, or a product brochure.
A publication is NOT: your recollection of what someone once said, someone's recollection of what they themselves once said, a trade secret, or a confidential company memo. The upshot is that prior art must be publicly available, and it must be printed (or a physical object).
If you come up with anything on your digs, send it to [email protected] |
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