What is the significance of the patent grant date for prior art under AIA?

What is the significance of the patent grant date for prior art under AIA?

Under the America Invents Act (AIA), the patent grant date is crucial for determining prior art status. According to MPEP 2152.02(a), “Once a patent is granted, the right to exclude granted by a patent no longer requires that a patent application be maintained in confidence.” This means that:

• The entire disclosure of the patent becomes prior art as of the patent grant date.
• This includes any material that was previously redacted or kept confidential during the application process.
• The patent’s disclosure can be used as prior art against other applications from its grant date forward.

It’s important to note that this is different from the effective filing date, which determines the patent’s priority date for novelty and non-obviousness assessments.

To learn more:

• AIA
• prior art
• patent grant date
• disclosure
• effective filing date