What constitutes “secret use” in patent law?

What constitutes “secret use” in patent law?

In patent law, “secret use” refers to the use of an invention that is kept confidential and not accessible to the public. The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) 2152.02(c) states:

“An inventor’s private use or sale of the invention is not prior art under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) if it was not publicly accessible.”

This means that if an inventor uses their invention in a way that maintains its secrecy, such use does not count as “public use” and does not affect the patentability of the invention. However, it’s important to note that secret commercial use by the inventor for more than one year before filing a patent application may still impact patentability under the 35 U.S.C. 102(b) on-sale bar.

To learn more:

• secret use
• public use
• prior art
• AIA
• patent law