What types of activities can be used against claims in a patent application?

According to MPEP 715.01(d), various activities can be used against claims in a patent application. These include:

• Public use
• Sales
• Publications
• Patents
• Abandonment

The MPEP states: ‘The 1-year grace period in pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b) is measured from the filing date to which the application is entitled (United States filing date or foreign priority date) with respect to the prior art activity.’ This means that any of these activities occurring more than one year before the effective filing date can be used as prior art against the claims.

To learn more:

• prior art
• grace period
• patent application
• public use
• sales
• publications