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Public Disclosures

Types of Disclosures

  • How is a public disclosure defined?

    A public disclosure is any disclosure that is:

    • Patented
    • Published in a printed publication
    • In public use
    • On sale
    • Otherwise available to the public prior to the filing date of a patent application

    If a public disclosure of an invention is made prior to filing a patent application claiming that invention, patent rights may be lost.

  • What are some examples of public disclosures?
    • A printed abstract or paper (online or hard copy) or preprint server
    • A poster presented at a conference meeting
    • A talk given at a conference meeting
    • Master’s theses and Ph.D. dissertations
    • Thesis defenses open to the public
    • Department-level and campus-level seminars if open to the public
    • A public disclosure made by an inventor more than one year before the inventor’s patent application filing date
    • A sale or an offer to sell research materials or prototypes of an invention
    • Funded federal agency grant proposals

    Note that funded federal agency grant proposals are public disclosures because they can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Steps can be taken, however, to maintain certain information as confidential where necessary. For example, the first page of the proposal should be marked “Confidential Information – Pages __ to __ of this proposal contain potentially patentable information.” Each of these pages should also be marked “CONFIDENTIAL.”

  • What are some examples of nonpublic disclosures?
    • A disclosure made under a confidentiality agreement
    • Lab meetings attended by only university employees and students
    • Department or faculty meetings attended by only university employees and students
    • Papers submitted for publication prior to acceptance and publication
    • An unfunded federal agency grant application
    • A high-level disclosure that does not provide enough details for another person skilled in the art to make or use the invention
    • A disclosure of the invention by the inventor less than one year before the inventor files a patent application (U.S. only)

Patent Rights When Disclosing

  • Does a public disclosure always lead to loss of patent rights?

    Not all public disclosures lead to the loss of patent rights. Public disclosures that do not provide a detailed or “enabling” description of the invention, such that a person of ordinary skill in the art could make and use the invention, will not result in the loss of patent rights.

  • Is there a grace period for public disclosures in the United States?

    In the United States, an inventor’s public disclosure of their own invention less than one year prior to the filing date of their patent application is not considered prior art. In most foreign countries, there is no inventor grace period, and any public disclosure made prior to filing a patent application will prevent patenting of the invention. Therefore, it is always best to file a patent application before any public disclosure.

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