Legal Definitions - compulsory disclosure

Compulsory disclosure refers to the mandatory divulging of information to a litigation opponent according to procedural rules. This can include the automatic disclosure of information that would typically be requested during the discovery process in a legal case.

• Full disclosure: A complete revelation of all material facts.
• Public disclosure of private facts: The public revelation of some aspect of a person's private life without a legitimate public purpose.
• Voluntary disclosure of offense: A person's uncoerced admission to an undiscovered crime.
• Initial disclosure: In federal practice, the requirement that parties make available to each other certain information without first receiving a discovery request, such as the names of potential witnesses and relevant documents.
• Patent disclosure: A document explaining how an invention works in sufficient detail for one skilled in the art to be able to understand and duplicate the invention.

These examples illustrate the different contexts in which compulsory disclosure can occur. In legal cases, parties may be required to disclose certain information to their opponents in order to ensure a fair trial. In the case of patents, inventors must disclose enough information about their invention for others to be able to replicate it.