What is the one-year grace period under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1)?
The AIA introduced a one-year grace period for certain disclosures made by or derived from the inventor. This grace period is defined in AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1). The MPEP explains:
AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1) effectively provides a one-year grace period (grace period) after a first inventor-originated disclosure of an invention (i.e. a disclosure by an inventor or joint inventor, or another who obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor) within which the inventor, assignee, obligated assignee, or other party having sufficient interest may file a patent application which is not subject to such disclosure and certain other disclosures as prior art.
This grace period allows inventors to disclose their invention or have it disclosed by others who obtained the information from them, without fear of it being used as prior art against their own patent application, as long as they file within one year of the disclosure.
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