4 ms·

Until the US switched to a “first to file” country like China.

• Thorrez 7y ago
  Are you referring to the Leahy–Smith America Invents Act of 2011? It sounds like that still says prior art stops the ability to file. > Actions and prior art that bar patentability under the Act include public use, sales, publications, and other disclosures available to the public anywhere in the world as of the filing date, other than publications by the inventor within one year of filing (inventor's "publication-conditioned grace period"), whether or not a third party also files a patent application. The law also notably expanded prior art to include foreign offers for sale and public uses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy-Smith_America_Invents_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy-Smith_America_Invents_Ac...
• cma 7y ago
  Public sale or publication still acts as prior art in first to file. Could be they used the publication grace period: you can be first to publish an invention publicly and then have a one year grace period to file and can use that publication as priority.