MPEP § 2154 — Provisions Pertaining to Subject Matter in a U.S. Patent or Application Effectively Filed Before the Effective Filing Date of the Claimed Invention

Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024 · last revised R-11.2013

[Editor Note: This MPEP section is only applicable to applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file (FITF) provisions of the AIA as set forth in 35 U.S.C. 100 (note). See MPEP § 2159 et seq. to determine whether an application is subject to examination under the FITF provisions, and MPEP § 2131-MPEP § 2138 for examination of applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102.]

AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) sets forth three types of U.S. patent documents that are available as prior art as of the date they were effectively filed with respect to the subject matter relied upon in the document if they name another inventor. See MPEP §§ 2151, 2154.01, and 2154.01(a) for a discussion of the types of patent documents that qualify as prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). See MPEP § 2154.02et seq. for prior art exceptions under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2) to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).