Question
What do we need to consider relating to ‘prior art’ if we decide to publish information about our product before patent application? Is it OK to describe the product but not give specific information about the design or technology? ( for pre marketing purposes.)
Answers: 2 public & 0 private
You are probably OK with describing the product in general terms - in other words, what it generally does or accomplishes, but do not in any manner disclose any details of its structure or how it really works.
The key term often used in examination of patent applications in US and EPO, to describe such situations, is "enabling disclosure", basically can a professional make the invention based on your description in the published info?
Presumably if not then you are ok, but I always advise my clients that it is not worth the risk. You might lose your entire IP over this. File a provisional for a few dollars and then you can publish whatever you want to.
Recent questions
I sometimes see questions on forums like Quora about how to stop people stealing your invention i...
4 5386 2I am looking for useful sources on protecting copyright. I am in the process of writing a book ba...
3 6114 2What is the current wisdom on compiling news feeds on a third party website so far as copyright i...
1 3962 0This might be a silly question but I’m a bit confused by ‘prior disclosure’ as it applies to pate...
2 4823 1Do you have a question about your invention or intellectual property?
Search the questions below or post your enquiry to one of our experts via Directory.
(User questions are no longer posted publicly on this page.)
