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Prior Art
Prior art (also known as or state of the art, which also has other meanings), in most systems of patent law,[1] constitutes all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date that might be relevant to a patent's claims of originality. If an invention has been described in prior art, a patent on that invention is not valid.
Information kept secret, for instance as a trade secret, is not usually prior art provided that employees and others with access to the information are under a non-disclosure obligation. In the absence of such an obligation, the information will typically be regarded as prior art. Generally, this means that a patent may be granted on an invention despite the fact that someone else knew of the invention. A person who used an invention in secret may in some jurisdictions be able to claim "prior user rights" and thereby gain the right to continue using the invention. As a special exception, earlier-filed and unpublished patent applications do qualify as prior art as of their filing date in certain circumstances.
In most patent systems, in order to anticipate a claim, prior art is expected to provide a description sufficient to inform the average worker in the field (or the person skilled in the art) of some subject matter falling within the scope of the claim. Prior art must be available in some way to the public, and many countries require the information to be recorded in a fixed form somehow. Again, in most patent systems, prior art does not include unpublished work or mere conversations (though according to the European Patent Convention, oral disclosures also form prior art — see Article 54(2) EPC). It is disputed whether traditional knowledge (e.g. of medical properties of a certain plant) constitutes prior art.
Patents disclose to society how an invention is practiced, in return for the right (during a limited term) to exclude others from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale or using the patented invention without the patentee's permission. Patent offices deal with prior art searches in the context of the patent granting procedure. To assess the validity of a patent application, patent offices explore the prior art that was disclosed before the invention occurred (in the United States) or before the filing date (in the rest of the world).
8th Circuit Holds Evidence of Prior Discrimination Lawsuit Against Prior Employer Not Admissible
8th Circuit Holds Evidence of Prior Discrimination Lawsuit Against Prior Employer Not AdmissibleSource: Adjunct Law Prof Blog; http://lawprofessors...
8th Holds Evidence of Prior Discrimination Lawsuit Against Prior Employer Not Admissible
Batiste-Davis v. Lincare,___F.3d___ (8th Cir. May 19, 2008), is an important employment discrimination case. The court addresses the difficult evidentary question whether an employee's prior discrimination lawsuit against a prior employer is admissible in an employment discrimination case...
Prior court decision of no invalidity based on prior art reference doesn't bar reexamination
The Federal Circuit recently construed the scope of the revised reexamination statute, 35 U.S.C. § 303, specifically what is required for a "substantial new question of patentability...
Red Hat Is Asking for Prior Art
Red Hat could use our help finding prior art in connection with the patent infringement litigation brought by IP Innovation, LLC, a subsidiary of Acacia against Red Hat and Novell...
E-Documents as Prior Art
Wynn Coggins, director for the USPTO's Group 3620 (Electronic Commerce), has written an article called "When is an Electronic Document a Printed Publication for Prior Art Purposes?
Prior restraints
The odd story of the Wikileaks.org injunction is described here by the Berkman Center’s Citizen Media project. We still don’t know exactly why the site was ordered taken down - it seems like a trade secret issue - or why this was done ex parte, or why the court initially ordered wikileaks...
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Can my employer threaten me with termination if I don't seek a transfer to another department?
In many jurisdictions, employees are "at will". This means that their employmen...
How to collect a personal loan from a spouse?
You local court will probably have someone to offer you some assistance as you p...
How to prove child support payments were sent by US Mail?
Your best bet is to send the checks via certified mail return receipt requested....
Can my marriage be anuled if my husband did not disclose how many marriages he had prior to the one with me?
you have exactly one year from the date of your marriage to annulify it. use the...
What is the statute of limitations in New york State as to how long a person may claim heirship?
who has paid the taxes for the last 7 to 11 yrs ? you can take a house by openly...















