What is unity of invention in patent applications?
Unity of invention is a principle applied in international and national stage patent applications submitted under 35 U.S.C. 371. It determines whether multiple inventions can be included in a single application.
According to MPEP 1893.03(d), “The basic principle is that an application should relate to only one invention or, if there is more than one invention, that applicant would have a right to include in a single application only those inventions which are so linked as to form a single general inventive concept.”
Unity of invention is present when there is a technical relationship among the inventions involving at least one common or corresponding special technical feature.
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