Under the prior U.S. law, an “interference” proceeding would be instituted in the Patent and Trademark Office when two or more inventors are claiming the same patentable invention. An interference was typically declared between two or more pending applications, or between one or more pending applications and one or more unexpired issued patents. Because under prior laws the first party to invent, not the first party to file an application, was entitled to receive the patent for the invention it was possible for a person with a later filing date to show that he or she was the first party to invent, and thereby obtain a patent. Even under the previous U.S. patent laws interference proceedings were rare. It is expected that such proceedings will become increasingly rare in coming years, as pending “first to invent” applications either are abandoned or issued as patents and are replaced with applications under the new “first inventor to file” laws. ONE YEAR GRACE PERIOD Under current and former Patent laws, an inventor has a grace period of one year (in the United States) in which to file a patent application. During that one year period, an inventor may place his or her invention in public use or on sale without losing his or her right to apply for U.S. patent protection. Under current U.S. Patent Laws, however, this one year grace period has become somewhat more limited. Under prior U.S. Patent Laws, a prior disclosure would not operate as prior art to the inventor if within a year of patent filing. However, under current laws, the prior art effect of such disclosures has changed. For example, an early disclosure can prevent others from directly copying an invention, since that early disclosure would be prior art or otherwise
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