are relevant to the patentability of the application. While this latter issue sounds ominous, in fact it may be beneficial to the applicant since any resulting patent will be stronger having been issued over additional closely related patents and materials. For unpublished applications, no information concerning the application is given to anyone without the permission of the applicant except in special limited circumstances. If the applicant decides at some point not to continue the attempt to obtain a patent, the contents of the application will forever be kept in confidence by the Patent Office. It is only after a patent is actually issued that the information contained in the application is made public. For cases filed after November 29, 2000, there is still an opportunity to avoid publication. This requires certification by the applicant that the U.S. Application will not be filed in any countries outside of the United States. An applicant can change his or her mind, and file corresponding foreign applications, but the U.S. Patent Office must immediately be advised of this change. If the U.S. Patent Office is not advised within a prescribed time, the application will be considered abandoned. EXPERIMENTAL USE A patent will be denied if an invention was in public use or on sale more than one year prior to the date of application. However, there is an exception to this rule known as “experimental use.” The “experimental use” exception permits some public use of the product by an inventor in order to enable him or her to perfect the invention before applying for a patent. The exception does not apply to situations where the use or sale of the device is mainly for profit and commercial purposes and the experimentation is
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