What is diligence in patent law?
In patent law, diligence refers to the continuous effort an inventor makes to reduce their invention to practice after conception. As stated in the MPEP, In patent law, an inventor is either diligent at a given time or he is not diligent; there are no degrees of diligence.
This means that diligence is a binary concept – an inventor is either diligent or not, without intermediate levels.
The MPEP also notes that An applicant may be diligent within the meaning of the patent law when he or she is doing nothing, if his or her lack of activity is excused.
However, it’s crucial to provide an explanation for any periods of inactivity, as the USPTO or courts will not speculate on possible explanations for delay or inactivity.
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