What is the significance of the ‘complete and operative invention’ requirement for conception?
What is the significance of the ‘complete and operative invention’ requirement for conception?
The ‘complete and operative invention’ requirement is a crucial aspect of proving conception in patent law. According to MPEP 2138.04:
“Conception is complete only when the idea is so clearly defined in the inventor’s mind that only ordinary skill would be necessary to reduce the invention to practice, without extensive research or experimentation.”
This requirement has several important implications:
- The inventor must have a clear and definite idea of the entire invention
- All essential elements of the invention must be conceived
- The invention must be sufficiently developed that it could be reduced to practice without undue experimentation
The ‘complete and operative invention’ standard ensures that mere general ideas or partial concepts do not qualify as conception. It requires the inventor to have thought through the invention to a point where it could be implemented by someone with ordinary skill in the field, even if some routine development work might still be necessary.
To learn more: