What is inherency in patent law?

Inherency in patent law refers to characteristics or properties that are necessarily present in a prior art reference, even if they were not explicitly recognized or disclosed. As stated in the MPEP, “[T]he discovery of a previously unappreciated property of a prior art composition, or of a scientific explanation for the prior art’s functioning, does not render the old composition patentably new to the discoverer.” (MPEP 2112)

This concept is important in both anticipation (35 U.S.C. 102) and obviousness (35 U.S.C. 103) rejections. Inherent features can be relied upon in these rejections, even if they were not explicitly disclosed in the prior art.

To learn more:

• inherency
• prior art
• patent rejection
• anticipation
• obviousness