In former
United States patent law
Under United States law, a patent is a right granted to the inventor of a (1) process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, (2) that is new, useful, and non-obvious. A patent is the right to exclude others, for a limited ...
, a statutory invention registration (SIR) was a publication of an
invention
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an i ...
by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
(USPTO). The publication was made at the request of the applicant (i.e.
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
(s) or assignee(s)). In order for an applicant to have a
patent application
A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for an invention described in the patent specification and a set of one or more claims stated in a formal document, including necessary official forms and re ...
published as an SIR, the following conditions had to be met:
# The application must
disclose the invention in sufficient detail that another
person of ordinary skill in the art
A person having ordinary skill in the art (abbreviated PHOSITA), a person of (ordinary) skill in the art (POSITA or PSITA), a person skilled in the art, a skilled addressee or simply a skilled person is a legal fiction found in many patent laws t ...
can make and use the invention without undue experimentation (i.e. the application meets the requirements of 35 U.S.C. ยง 112);
# The application complies with the requirements for printing, as set forth in regulations of the Director of the patent office;
# The applicant waives the right to receive a patent on the invention within such period as may be prescribed by the Director; and
# The applicant pays application, publication, and other processing fees established by the Director.
Historically, statutory invention registrations were used by applicants for publishing patent applications on which they no longer felt they could get patents. By publishing the patent applications, they helped ensure that the inventions were in the public domain and no one else could subsequently get a patent on them, as a SIR could be applied as
prior art
Prior art (also known as state of the art or background art) is a concept in patent law used to determine the patentability of an invention, in particular whether an invention meets the novelty and the inventive step or non-obviousness criteria f ...
against other patent applications in the same manner as a patent. Statutory invention registrations had the
kind code
In patent law, a kind code, or WIPO Standard ST.16 code, is a code used on patent documents published by intellectual property offices to distinguish different kinds of patent documents. H.
["Kind Codes" Included on the USPTO Patent Documents](_blank)
from the United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
As of the 1999
American Inventors Protection Act
The American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA) is a United States federal law enacted on November 29, 1999, as Public Law 106-113. In 2002, the Intellectual Property and High Technology Technical Amendments Act of 2002, Public Law 107-273, amended A ...
, however, most patent applications filed in the US have been published 18 months after they were filed. These published patent applications serve a similar purpose to a statutory invention registration. Once an application is published, an inventor need only let their application go abandoned in order to give up their right to a patent and dedicate the invention to the public.
Statutory invention registrations are no longer available under U.S. law since the
Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) entered into force in 2013. "
e provisions of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 157 were repealed on March 16, 2013".
See also
*
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin The IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin was a technical publication produced by IBM between 1958 and 1998. The purpose of the Bulletin was to disclose inventions that IBM did not want their competitors to get patents on. The Bulletin was a form of ...
*
Patent caveat
A patent caveat, often shortened to caveat, was a legal document filed with the United States Patent Office. History
Caveats were instituted by the U.S. Patent Act of 1836, but were discontinued in 1909, with the U.S. Congress abolishing the sys ...
*
Patent Commons
*
United States Defensive Publication
A United States Defensive Publication is a published patent application for which the inventor has elected not to get patent coverage. Defensive Publications were made between April 1968 and May 8, 1985. The program, called Defensive Publication ...
*
Utility model
A utility model is a patent-like intellectual property right to protect inventions. This type of right is available in many countries but, notably, not in the United States, United Kingdom or Canada. Although a utility model is similar to a patent ...
References
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External links
Laws and regulations governing Statutory Invention Registrations(USPTO web site)
Slashdot article discussing the benefits of publishing inventions without seeking patent protection to forestall others from getting patents on the same inventions.
United States patent law