innovation patented?
Public disclosure of an innovation can be any public written or oral discourse that describes the innovation in detail. Publications that are “enabling” (allow one with ordinary skill in the art to arrive at the same invention without due experimentation) can disqualify one from receiving a patent. Legally, “publication” is broadly interpreted to include journal articles, posters, slides, talks, conference proceedings, abstracts on the Web, theses and dissertations that are available to the public, and discussions with corporate researchers and company personnel. Research group meetings that are not open to the public, communications with one’s granting agency that are not made public, and confidential discussions, including disclosing your innovation to UW TechTransfer, are not deemed to be public disclosure. In the U.S., there is a one-year grace period after an enabling public disclosure during which an innovation is still eligible for patent protection. In most foreign countries, h
