What is a claims “priority date”?
A claim’s priority date is the date upon which the technical disclosure that fully describes the invention covered by that claim is first filed with some patent office somewhere in the world. A patent must state on its face any such claim of priority. The claim must define the invention over any prior art available to the public before the priority date. If prior art is published after the priority date, the publication does not invalidate the claim. If it is published less than a year before the priority date, it may invalidate the claim unless the inventor can prove invention prior to the publication date. Finally, if a publication date is more than one year prior to a claim’s priority date, then the publication invalidates the claim. >>top Question: What is a claim’s invention date? Answer: Making an invention requires a conception and a reduction to practice. The invention date is normally the date upon which an inventor first conceives his or her invention as defined by a given cl
