What happens if an invention is made public before a patent application is filed?
In the United States, an inventor cannot patent an invention if he or she discloses it to the public more than one year before filing for patent protection. This is sometimes known as the “on sale” bar to patentability. Public disclosure can occur when the invention is described in any published writing, or when the invention is offered for sale, including any pre-manufacture discussion about the invention that involves describing it. In most foreign countries, there is no one year grace period; the inventor must file the patent application before the invention is publicly offered for sale, used or displayed.
