What is the significance of the grace period in relation to intervening disclosures?
The grace period is significant in relation to intervening disclosures because it protects inventors from certain disclosures made by third parties during the one-year period before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. MPEP 2155.02 explains:
“The exception in AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)(B) applies if the ‘subject matter disclosed [in the intervening disclosure] had, before such [intervening] disclosure was made or before such subject matter was effectively filed, been publicly disclosed by the inventor or a joint inventor or another who obtained the subject matter directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor.'”
This means that if an inventor publicly discloses their invention and a third party subsequently discloses the same subject matter within the grace period, the third party’s disclosure cannot be used as prior art against the inventor’s patent application. This protection encourages inventors to share their innovations without fear of losing patent rights due to others’ disclosures.
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