What is the doctrine of inherent disclosure in patent law?
The doctrine of inherent disclosure in patent law refers to the principle that a patent application may implicitly disclose certain functions, theories, or advantages of an invention, even if they are not explicitly stated. As explained in MPEP 2163.07(a):
“Under the doctrine of inherent disclosure, when a specification describes an invention that has certain undisclosed yet inherent properties, that specification serves as adequate written description to support a subsequent patent application that explicitly recites the invention’s inherent properties.”
This means that if a device inherently performs a function or has a property, the patent application is considered to disclose that function or property, even if it’s not explicitly mentioned.
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