Implications of Public Disclosure
Rules on patentability differ between the U.S. and the rest of the world.
For every country outside of the U.S., inventions cannot be publicly disclosed prior to submission of the patent application.
A public disclosure is any presentation (open to the public) or publication of the invention that is in sufficient detail to allow your scientific peers, or someone that is “skilled in the art,” to understand and recreate the invention.
This means that most publications or presentations of the invention prior to submission of a provisional patent application eliminate our ability to seek patent protection in foreign countries.
Within the U.S., public disclosure of an invention initiates a one-year period in which one may seek patent protection through the submission of a provisional or non-provisional patent application.
After a patent application has been filed, you may present and/or publish the invention without the loss of patent rights.
It is critical to note that the patent application covers the invention as it existed on the day the patent application was filed. Improvements to the invention may not be covered by the original patent application; therefore, you should consult with OLV prior to presenting improvements or modifications of the invention.
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