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One of the services provided by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for inventors is the acceptance and preservation of papers disclosing an invention. This service preserves the disclosed documents for a period of two (2) years. This service, known as the Disclosure Document Program, is used to help inventors prove dates of conception of their inventions.
It should be clearly understood that a Disclosure Document is NOT a patent application, nor will its receipt date in any way become the effective filing date of a later filed patent application. A Disclosure Document may be relied upon ONLY as evidence of conception of an invention and a patent application should be diligently filed if patent protection is desired.
Under this service, inventors submit documents prepared by them to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which fully disclose their inventions. the materials submitted to the U.S. Patent and trademark Office is retained for two years at which time it will be destroyed unless it is referred to in a separate related patent application.
A fee must be submitted with the material along with a Request (see Appendix for this form). The disclosure materials are limited to written matter or drawings on paper or other thin, flexible material, such as linen or plastic drafting material, having dimensions or being folded to dimensions not to exceed 8 1/2 x 13 inches. Photographs are acceptable. Each page of the materials submitted should be numbered. Text and the drawings should be of such quality as to permit reproduction.
The disclosure material, the Request and the applicable fee are to be transmitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office via First Class Mail (see address on the Request form). A self-addressed, stamped envelope should be enclosed with your materials to ensure that a duplicate copy of the disclosure materials and Request will be returned to the inventor. The Request will be stamped with an identifying number with a reminder to the inventor that the Disclosure Document Program may be relied upon only as evidence of the date of conception and that an application must be filed in order to provide patent protection. No further action is required.
The two year retention period should not be considered to be a "grace period" during which the inventor can wait to file his or her patent application without possible loss of benefit. It must be understood that to use the Disclosure Document, the inventor must also establish diligence in completing the invention or in filing the patent application since filing of the Disclosure Document. If you are not familiar with what is considered "diligence in completing the invention" or "reduction to practice", please contact us. You are also reminded that any public use or sale in the United States or publication of your invention anywhere in the world more than one year prior to the filing of a patent application on that invention will prohibit the granting of a patent on it. |
