Title 35: Patents
Patent law including patentability, patent examination, infringement, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the America Invents Act.
38 chapters · 187 sections · 4 key sections available
Key Sections (4)
Inventions Patentable
Patents can be obtained for new and useful inventions — processes, machines, manufactured items, or compositions of matter. Laws of nature and abstract ideas cannot be patented.
Conditions for Patentability — Novelty
An invention must be novel to be patented — it cannot have been previously patented, published, or publicly available. The U.S. uses a first-inventor-to-file system.
Infringement of Patent
Anyone who makes, uses, sells, or imports a patented invention without permission infringes the patent. This includes those who actively help others infringe or sell components made specifically for infringing use.
Specification — Written Description and Enablement
A patent application must describe the invention clearly enough that someone skilled in the field could reproduce it. The claims at the end define exactly what the patent covers.