How are patent rights affected by publication?
Public disclosures before the filing of a patent application can jeopardize patent rights. Public disclosures can include papers, abstracts, posters and lectures. A paper is considered to be a public disclosure at the time it is made available on the publisher’s website, even if it has not yet been indexed in PubMed and will be forthcoming in a future volume of the journal. As you know, an abstract submitted to a meeting may become available online before the meeting begins. This online publication of the abstract is considered a public disclosure. Finally, poster presentations and lectures which are attended by people from outside of the university are typically public disclosures, even if they are presented at Temple. You should endeavor to contact the Office of Technology Development and Commercialization regarding your disclosure well before it will be made. As a general rule for papers and abstracts, you should try and contact our office before the manuscript or abstract is submit
