How does the pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(g)(1) affect patent rights in interference proceedings?
The pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(g)(1) affects patent rights in interference proceedings by establishing conditions under which a person may not be entitled to a patent. According to MPEP 2301.01:
“A person shall be entitled to a patent unless — (g)(1) during the course of an interference conducted under section 135 or section 291, another inventor involved therein establishes, to the extent permitted in section 104, that before such person’s invention thereof the invention was made by such other inventor and not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed.”
This means that in an interference proceeding, if another inventor can prove they made the invention first and didn’t abandon, suppress, or conceal it, the later inventor may lose their right to the patent.
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