What is an “enabling disclosure” in patent law?
An “enabling disclosure” in patent law refers to a prior art reference that provides sufficient information for a person of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the claimed invention without undue experimentation. The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) Section 2121.01 states:
“A reference contains an ‘enabling disclosure’ if the public was in possession of the claimed invention before the effective filing date of the claimed invention for applications or patents subject to the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA or the time the invention was made for applications or patents subject to pre-AIA law.”
This means that the prior art must provide enough detail for someone skilled in the field to reproduce the invention without excessive difficulty.
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