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35 U.S.C. § 103 — Conditions for patentability; non-obvious subject matter
Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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Source file: Laws/federal/codes/united-states-code/title-35/section-103-conditions-for-patentability-non-obvious-subject-matter--bde0177349.md
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Source location: Title 35, Chapter 10, § 103; chapter-010-patentability-of-inventions.md
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A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
When used in this title unless the context otherwise indicates—
**(a)** The term “invention” means invention or discovery.
**(b)** The term “process” means process, art or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.
**(c)** The terms “United States” and “this country” mean the United States of America, its territories and possessions.
**(d)** The word “patentee” includes not only the patentee to whom the patent was issued but also the successors in title to the patentee.
**(e)** The term “third-party requester” means a person requesting ex parte reexamination under section 302 who is not the patent owner.
**(f)** The term “inventor” means the individual or, if a joint invention, the individuals collectively who invented or discovered the subject matter of the invention.
**(g)** The terms “joint inventor” and “coinventor” mean any 1 of the individuals who invented or discovered the subject matter of a joint invention.
**(h)** The term “joint research agreement” means a written contract, grant, or cooperative agreement entered into by 2 or more persons or entities for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research work in the field of the claimed invention.
**(i)**
(1) The term “effective filing date” for a claimed invention in a patent or application for patent means—
(A) if subparagraph (B) does not apply, the actual filing date of the patent or the application for the patent containing a claim to the invention; or
(B) the filing date of the earliest application for which the patent or application is entitled, as to such invention, to a right of priority under section 119, 365(a), 365(b), 386(a), or 386(b) or to the benefit of an earlier filing date under section 120, 121, 365(
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 100
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
### Statutory Notes
Section, added Pub. L. 98–622, title I, § 102(a), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3383; amended Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(9) [title IV, § 4732(a)(10)(A), (11)], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A–582, 1501A–583; Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title III, § 13206(b)(1)(B), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1906; Pub. L. 112–29, § 20(j), Sept. 16, 2011, 125 Stat. 335, related to statutory invention registration.
#### Effective Date of Repeal
Repeal effective upon the expiration of the 18-month period beginning on Sept. 16, 2011, and applicable to any request for a statutory invention registration filed on or after that effective date, see section 3(e)(3) of Pub. L. 112–29, set out as an Effective Date of 2011 Amendment note under [section 111 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title35-section111&num=0&edition=prelim).
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 157
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Novelty; Prior Art.—** A person shall be entitled to a patent unless—
(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention; or
(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
**(b) Exceptions.—**
(1) **Disclosures made 1 year or less before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.—** — A disclosure made 1 year or less before the effective filing date of a claimed invention shall not be prior art to the claimed invention under subsection (a)(1) if—
(A) the disclosure was made by the inventor or joint inventor or by another who obtained the subject matter disclosed directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor; or
(B) the subject matter disclosed had, before such disclosure, been publicly disclosed by the inventor or a joint inventor or another who obtained the subject matter disclosed directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor.
(2) **Disclosures appearing in applications and patents.—** — A disclosure shall not be prior art to a claimed invention under subsection (a)(2) if—
(A) the subject matter disclosed was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor;
(B) the subject matter disclosed had, before such subject matter was effectively filed under subsection (a)(2), been publicly disclosed by the inventor or a joint inventor or another who obtained the subject matter
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 102
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) In General.—** The United States Patent and Trademark Office, subject to the policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce—
(1) shall be responsible for the granting and issuing of patents and the registration of trademarks; and
(2) shall be responsible for disseminating to the public information with respect to patents and trademarks.
**(b) Specific Powers.—** The Office—
(1) shall adopt and use a seal of the Office, which shall be judicially noticed and with which letters patent, certificates of trademark registrations, and papers issued by the Office shall be authenticated;
(2) may establish regulations, not inconsistent with law, which—
(A) shall govern the conduct of proceedings in the Office;
(B) shall be made in accordance with [section 553 of title 5](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section553&num=0&edition=prelim);
(C) shall facilitate and expedite the processing of patent applications, particularly those which can be filed, stored, processed, searched, and retrieved electronically, subject to the provisions of section 122 relating to the confidential status of applications;
(D) may govern the recognition and conduct of agents, attorneys, or other persons representing applicants or other parties before the Office, and may require them, before being recognized as representatives of applicants or other persons, to show that they are of good moral character and reputation and are possessed of the necessary qualifications to render to applicants or other persons valuable service, advice, and assistance in the presentation or prosecution of their applications or other business before the Office;
(E) shall recognize the public interest in continuing to safeguard broad access to the United States patent sys
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 2
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a)** The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit shall have exclusive jurisdiction—
(1) of an appeal from a final decision of a district court of the United States, the District Court of Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands, or the District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands, in any civil action arising under, or in any civil action in which a party has asserted a compulsory counterclaim arising under, any Act of Congress relating to patents or plant variety protection;
(2) of an appeal from a final decision of a district court of the United States, the United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone, the District Court of Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands, or the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, if the jurisdiction of that court was based, in whole or in part, on [section 1346 of this title](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title28-section1346&num=0&edition=prelim), except that jurisdiction of an appeal in a case brought in a district court under section 1346(a)(1), 1346(b), 1346(e), or 1346(f) of this title or under section 1346(a)(2) when the claim is founded upon an Act of Congress or a regulation of an executive department providing for internal revenue shall be governed by sections 1291, 1292, and 1294 of this title;
(3) of an appeal from a final decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims;
(4) of an appeal from a decision of—
(A) the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office with respect to a patent application, derivation proceeding, reexamination, post-grant review, or inter partes review under title 35, at the instance of a party who exercised that party’s right to participate in the applicable proceeding
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 28 U.S.C. § 1295
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Establishment.—** The United States Patent and Trademark Office is established as an agency of the United States, within the Department of Commerce. In carrying out its functions, the United States Patent and Trademark Office shall be subject to the policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce, but otherwise shall retain responsibility for decisions regarding the management and administration of its operations and shall exercise independent control of its budget allocations and expenditures, personnel decisions and processes, procurements, and other administrative and management functions in accordance with this title and applicable provisions of law. Those operations designed to grant and issue patents and those operations which are designed to facilitate the registration of trademarks shall be treated as separate operating units within the Office.
**(b) Offices.—** The United States Patent and Trademark Office shall maintain its principal office in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, for the service of process and papers and for the purpose of carrying out its functions. The United States Patent and Trademark Office shall be deemed, for purposes of venue in civil actions, to be a resident of the district in which its principal office is located, except where jurisdiction is otherwise provided by law. The United States Patent and Trademark Office may establish satellite offices in such other places in the United States as it considers necessary and appropriate in the conduct of its business.
**(c) Reference.—** For purposes of this title, the United States Patent and Trademark Office shall also be referred to as the “Office” and the “Patent and Trademark Office”.
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 1
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Joint Inventions.—** When an invention is made by two or more persons jointly, they shall apply for patent jointly and each make the required oath, except as otherwise provided in this title. Inventors may apply for a patent jointly even though (1) they did not physically work together or at the same time, (2) each did not make the same type or amount of contribution, or (3) each did not make a contribution to the subject matter of every claim of the patent.
**(b) Omitted Inventor.—** If a joint inventor refuses to join in an application for patent or cannot be found or reached after diligent effort, the application may be made by the other inventor on behalf of himself and the omitted inventor. The Director, on proof of the pertinent facts and after such notice to the omitted inventor as he prescribes, may grant a patent to the inventor making the application, subject to the same rights which the omitted inventor would have had if he had been joined. The omitted inventor may subsequently join in the application.
**(c) Correction of Errors in Application.—** Whenever through error a person is named in an application for patent as the inventor, or through error an inventor is not named in an application, the Director may permit the application to be amended accordingly, under such terms as he prescribes.
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 116
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
An application for patent for an invention disclosed in the manner provided by section 112(a) (other than the requirement to disclose the best mode) in an application previously filed in the United States, or as provided by section 363 or 385, which names an inventor or joint inventor in the previously filed application shall have the same effect, as to such invention, as though filed on the date of the prior application, if filed before the patenting or abandonment of or termination of proceedings on the first application or on an application similarly entitled to the benefit of the filing date of the first application and if it contains or is amended to contain a specific reference to the earlier filed application. No application shall be entitled to the benefit of an earlier filed application under this section unless an amendment containing the specific reference to the earlier filed application is submitted at such time during the pendency of the application as required by the Director. The Director may consider the failure to submit such an amendment within that time period as a waiver of any benefit under this section. The Director may establish procedures, including the requirement for payment of the fee specified in section 41(a)(7), to accept an unintentionally delayed submission of an amendment under this section.
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 120
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a) Institution of Proceeding.—**
(1) **In general.—** — An applicant for patent may file a petition with respect to an invention to institute a derivation proceeding in the Office. The petition shall set forth with particularity the basis for finding that an individual named in an earlier application as the inventor or a joint inventor derived such invention from an individual named in the petitioner’s application as the inventor or a joint inventor and, without authorization, the earlier application claiming such invention was filed. Whenever the Director determines that a petition filed under this subsection demonstrates that the standards for instituting a derivation proceeding are met, the Director may institute a derivation proceeding.
(2) **Time for filing.—** — A petition under this section with respect to an invention that is the same or substantially the same invention as a claim contained in a patent issued on an earlier application, or contained in an earlier application when published or deemed published under section 122(b), may not be filed unless such petition is filed during the 1-year period following the date on which the patent containing such claim was granted or the earlier application containing such claim was published, whichever is earlier.
(3) **Earlier application.—** — For purposes of this section, an application shall not be deemed to be an earlier application with respect to an invention, relative to another application, unless a claim to the invention was or could have been made in such application having an effective filing date that is earlier than the effective filing date of any claim to the invention that was or could have been made in such other application.
(4) **No appeal.—** — A determination by the Director whether to insti
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 135
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Federal law — U.S. Code and appendices · legal_authorities
**(a)** Except as otherwise provided in this title, whoever without authority makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells any patented invention, within the United States or imports into the United States any patented invention during the term of the patent therefor, infringes the patent.
**(b)** Whoever actively induces infringement of a patent shall be liable as an infringer.
**(c)** Whoever offers to sell or sells within the United States or imports into the United States a component of a patented machine, manufacture, combination or composition, or a material or apparatus for use in practicing a patented process, constituting a material part of the invention, knowing the same to be especially made or especially adapted for use in an infringement of such patent, and not a staple article or commodity of commerce suitable for substantial noninfringing use, shall be liable as a contributory infringer.
**(d)** No patent owner otherwise entitled to relief for infringement or contributory infringement of a patent shall be denied relief or deemed guilty of misuse or illegal extension of the patent right by reason of his having done one or more of the following: (1) derived revenue from acts which if performed by another without his consent would constitute contributory infringement of the patent; (2) licensed or authorized another to perform acts which if performed without his consent would constitute contributory infringement of the patent; (3) sought to enforce his patent rights against infringement or contributory infringement; (4) refused to license or use any rights to the patent; or (5) conditioned the license of any rights to the patent or the sale of the patented product on the acquisition of a license to rights in another patent or purchase of a separate product, unle
Source: Supplied U.S. Code snapshot — release unconfirmed · 35 U.S.C. § 271
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