Product Definition

[Teleno]

US first-to-patent law is aligned with the rest of the world. Prior art matters but it must be public and documented. If a patent covers an invention that was already in production and sold publicly then that is prior art and would invalidate the patent. But if someone had invented it previously -- even documented, built, and tested it -- but never publicly disclosed it, they're out of luck.

Outside of the US if you disclose your invention before applying for a patent then you can't patent it anymore. It's consideted prior art.

[Carl-NC]

Same in the US, but you get 1 year from public disclosure to file a patent application. I think practically all countries are now following the same rules.

[moodz]

US first-to-patent law is aligned with the rest of the world. Prior art matters but it must be public and documented. If a patent covers an invention that was already in production and sold publicly then that is prior art and would invalidate the patent. But if someone had invented it previously -- even documented, built, and tested it -- but never publicly disclosed it, they're out of luck.

I would not get too hung up on patents at this stage.

I will say not really Carl .... we will have to agree to disagree ....
"By passing the American Invents Act, Congress sought to modernize many aspects of American patent law. Among the changes was the transition from first-to-invent to first-to-file for patent applications filed after March 16, 2013."
Its not really aligned with the rest of the world- its called the "American Invents Act" -- not the International Invents Act .... In AUS the orignal inventor has 12 months from first disclosure to file ... ( which IS aligned with most of the world ).
The AIC was well intentioned but caused/causes a legal problem because it can be gamed by Trolls and by agressive companies with deep pockets.

Maybe you can also start an IP thread in the detector project for this type of discussion and full disclosure / links to patents / prior art etc.

Just sayin .. moodz

[ivconic]

Stew is being prepared here while the rabbit is still in the forest...
This is what is called advanced forward thinking!

[Tinkerer]

https://youtu.be/Z_1w2t_pGlo

Gold diggers in Colombia