Legal Definitions - absolute novelty

Definition: Absolute novelty refers to the requirement that an inventor must always file a patent application before the invention is publicly used, placed on sale, or disclosed. This rule is followed in most countries, except for the United States, where an inventor is given a one-year grace period to file a patent application after any public use, sale, offer of sale, or publication by the inventor or the inventor's agent.

Examples:

• An inventor in Japan must file a patent application before publicly disclosing their invention, or else they will lose the right to obtain a patent.
• In Germany, an inventor must file a patent application before publicly using or selling their invention, or else they will lose the right to obtain a patent.
• In the United States, an inventor has a one-year grace period to file a patent application after publicly disclosing their invention, but if they wait longer than that, they will lose the right to obtain a patent.

These examples illustrate how the absolute novelty requirement varies from country to country, but in general, it is important for inventors to file a patent application before publicly disclosing their invention in order to protect their rights to obtain a patent.