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Anticipation

Definition

A legal standard for rejecting a patent claimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more →. If every element of a claim was already disclosed in a single prior artprior artEarlier patents, publications, or products that existed before this patent's filing date. Patent claims must be novel over the prior art.Read more → reference — in a patent, article, or product — the claim is "anticipated" and cannot be patented. AnticipationanticipationA 102 rejection: a single prior art reference discloses every element of the claim. Stronger than obviousness (which can combine references).Read more → requires a single source to contain every element; if you need two sources, it's an obviousnessobviousnessA 103 rejection: the invention would have been obvious to a skilled person who combined existing prior art. The most common rejection in patent prosecution.Read more → argument, not anticipation.

Where this comes up

Patentability AssessmentPrior Art Search

In practice

Patents that use “Anticipation”

See the concept in real landmark patents, each explained in plain English.

consumer electronics

US RE49480 · 2023 · Ideal Industries Lighting LLC

How Smart Light Networks Coordinate Without a Central Controller

Related terms

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Cross-referenced

Claim

The numbered sentences at the end of a patent that define exactly what is legally protected. Claims are the only part of a patent that determine infringement — if a product or process doesn't fall within the scope of at least one claim, there is no infringement. Every other part of a patent (abstract, drawings, specification) exists to support and illuminate the claims.

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Obviousness

A grounds for rejection under 35 USC § 103 when an invention, while not identical to any single prior art reference, would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention. Examiners frequently combine two or more prior art references to make an obviousness rejection. It is the single most common rejection in patent prosecution.

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Patent

A government-granted right that gives an inventor the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention within the country that granted the patent, for a limited time. A patent does not give the owner the right to practice the invention — only the right to exclude others. The US issues three types: utility, design, and plant patents.

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Prior art

All publicly available information that existed before a patent's priority date that is relevant to the novelty and non-obviousness of the claimed invention. Prior art includes earlier patents, published patent applications, journal articles, product manuals, conference presentations, and anything that was publicly known or in use. Searching prior art before filing is one of the most valuable steps an inventor can take.

Abstract

A brief summary (300 words or fewer) that appears at the top of every patent. The abstract describes what the invention does in general terms. Legally, it has almost no weight — courts use the claims to determine what a patent covers, not the abstract. The abstract is useful mainly for quickly scanning patents during a prior art search.

Appeal

A request to have a patent examiner's rejection reviewed by a higher authority. After receiving multiple rejections, an applicant can appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) within the USPTO, and from there to federal court. Appeals are expensive and slow, but sometimes necessary when an examiner applies the law incorrectly.

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