Law - State of the Art

This description of the state of the art should "set the stage" for the (later) disclosure of your invention. You need not give full references to patent and non-patent publications--that will also come later, if necessary. Take care not the call anything "prior art" because the definition of that term is very complex and the mere fact that you call a reference "prior art" in a patent application means that the patent office can assume that what it discloses was invented before you made your invention. You can call technology in your description of the state of the art "related art" or "background art" but never specifically state that anything existed before you made your invention--because you could be permanently wrong. (Weird rules, huh?)

When a patent application is filed, this information will become a part of the Background of the Invention section.

MPEP § 608.01(c) Background of the Invention

MPEP § 2129 Admissions as Prior Art

MPEP § 609 Information Disclosure Statement

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