What constitutes enabling prior art for compounds and compositions?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

Enabling prior art for compounds and compositions must allow one of ordinary skill in the art to make or synthesize the compound. As stated in MPEP 2121.02:

“Where a process for making the compound is not developed until after the date of invention, the mere naming of a compound in a reference, without more, cannot constitute a description of the compound.”

This means that simply mentioning a compound’s name in a reference is not enough to make it enabling prior art. There must be sufficient information for someone skilled in the field to actually produce the compound.