Legal Definitions - anticipated

Anticipated, adjective. In the context of patents, it means that a patent claim has all the same elements of a prior-art reference. If a claim is anticipated by a previous invention or publication, that claim is not allowed. If a patent has already been issued, it will be declared invalid. This is also known as "fully met."

For example, if someone tries to patent a new type of phone case that has a built-in battery, but there is already a patent for a phone case with a built-in battery, the new patent claim would be anticipated and not allowed.

Another example would be if someone tries to patent a new type of car engine that has a specific feature, but there is already a published article describing an engine with the same feature, the patent claim would be anticipated and not allowed.

These examples illustrate how a patent claim can be anticipated if it has already been fully met by a prior-art reference, whether it is a previous patent or a published article.