USPTO Issues Examination Guidelines for Sec. 102(e)

Mondaq Business Briefing, November, 2002

On November 7, 2002, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) posted examination guidelines for making prior art determinations under [section]102(e), as amended by the American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA) of 1999 and newly enacted Public Law 107-273 (November 8, 2002).

Prior to the 1999 amendments, [section]102(e) gave prior art effect to patent disclosures having a filing date that preceded the applicant's invention date. In other words, even though the content of an application remained confidential while it was pending, the filing date was used as the date on which the issued patent became prior art. The prior statute accorded patents based on foreign filings prior arteffect as of their publication date, or as of the date the corresponding international...