In our earlier blog entries, we mentioned three concepts: inventorship, conception and reduction to practice. Inventorship was discussed last time, and we will cover the other two in this blog entry.
Aconceptionis the formulation of the complete means for solving a problem. Conception does not mean the mere recognition of a problem. Conception does not mean a general approach to solving a problem without specific means to accomplish the approach.
The conception must be specific enough to allow a person of reasonable skill in the art to reduce the invention to practice without undue experimentation. In addition, there is a special two-part rule for the conception of a chemical compound. First, the inventor must conceive the structure of a chemical compound. Second, the inventor must possess the operative method of making the compound.
There are two types ofreduction to practice– actual or constructive. Actual reduction to practice includes the physical construction of the invention and the testing of a physical embodiment to determine whether it performs as contemplated. The invention need not be perfect or incapable of further improvement. An inventor need not carry out the actual reduction to practice. However, he or she must supervise it. Conception may occur contemporaneously with the actual reduction to practice.
Constructive reduction to practice occurs when an inventor files a patent application. Constructive reduction to practice is equivalent to actual reduction to practice.
Patent Conception and Reduction to Practice
Thomas Joseph is a patent attorney in Pittsburgh, Pa. He maintains a solo practice in all areas of intellectual-property law. He has been practicing since 2001. Before starting his solo practice, Joseph was the General Counsel of Grant Street Group, a financial software firm. At Grant Street Group, he managed the company’s patent litigation against its primary competitors in the online-auction markets for tax certificates, foreclosures, tax deeds and municipal bonds. Joseph received a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University.
You can contact him at www.joseph-iplaw.com.
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