Legal Definitions - statutory invention registration

Statutory invention registration is a process in which an invention is placed in the public domain by publishing the patent abstract in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Official Gazette. This makes the abstract a prior-art reference as of the application's filing date. The process results in abandonment of the patent application.

For example, if an inventor wants to protect their invention but also wants to make it public, they can use statutory invention registration. By doing so, they can publish the patent abstract and make it available to the public while still protecting their invention.

Overall, statutory invention registration is a way for inventors to share their ideas with the public while still maintaining some level of protection for their invention.