Disclosures

Disazo dyes Disazo yellow pigments Discharge printing Disclosure... 

Color and clarity are two of the attributes that give gemstones used ia jewelry value. Gemstones deficient ia either color or clarity can be enhanced (1). Almost worthless material can at times be converted iato valuable-appeariag gemstones. An estimated two-thirds of all colored gemstones used ia jewelry have been treated. Accordingly the identification of the use of treatments and the disclosure of enhancements to the purchaser are important. Table 1 Hsts the materials discussed hereia. 

DISCLOSURE DATABASE Disclosure Inc. BRS, Data-Star, Dialog, Dowjones, Lexis financial statement... 

The use of alkaU metals for anionic polymerization of diene monomers is primarily of historical interest. A patent disclosure issued in 1911 (16) detailed the use of metallic sodium to polymerize isoprene and other dienes. Independentiy and simultaneously, the use of sodium metal to polymerize butadiene, isoprene, and 2,3-dimethyl-l,3-butadiene was described (17). Interest in alkaU metal-initiated polymerization of 1,3-dienes culminated in the discovery (18) at Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. that polymerization of neat isoprene with lithium dispersion produced high i7j -l,4-polyisoprene, similar in stmcture and properties to Hevea natural mbber (see ELASTOLffiRS,SYNTHETic-POLYisoPRENE Rubber, natural). 

Trade secret rights are based on the complete absence of disclosure of the invention to anyone other than the owner. Oftentimes ideas, developments, and advances that are the subject of trade secret protection are those which may not be patentable, for any of a number of reasons. These reasons can include the nature and subject matter of the advance or development, as weU as the commercial value of the advance or development. In any instance, an individual, business, or corporation is weU-advised to consider all possible means of protection when reviewing an advance, development, or invention. 

Some factors to consider when evaluating patent and trade secret protection include (/) the form and content of the technological advance, idea, development, or appHcation (2) the desired term of protection (J) the potential for the technological advance, idea, development, or appHcation to be the subject of a commercial product (4) work done previously (5) events which have pubHcized or pubHcly disclosed the technological advance, idea, development, or appHcation and (6) factors that may be critical to keeping the technological advance, idea, development, or appHcation confidential, and what events may necessitate disclosure. 

The printed pubHshed document which represents the patent rights granted by the Federal Government can be a complex Hterary work. There are specific and rigid legal requirements for the description, disclosure, and definiteness which support these affirmative rights and enable enforcement of those rights by the inventor or owner of the patent. The basis for this fiiU and complete disclosure of the invention in the patent is clearly articulated in the U.S. Constitution. 

The initial research effort may prove to be a broad spectmm of apphcations or solutions to the original problem that in turn provide any number of inventions. When efforts move toward reducing the invention to practice and refining the invention so that it proves to be commercially marketable, certain apphcations may prove to be unfeasible or commercially impractical. As a result, only one apphcation, eg, the creation of a given pattern on the surface of the automobile tire, may ultimately prove commercially marketable. However, ah the solutions which are developed and considered over the research and development process may comprise inventions that are worthy of disclosure and claiming in a patent. An apphcation which is not commercially viable today may become viable within the seventeen-year lifetime of a patent. 

One further component of the record of invention is a Hst of any uncovered pubHcations or patents which are relevant to the invention. Such a listing should also include any disclosures made by any of those who worked on the invention to other parties inside or outside the organization. AH inventors should sign the record of invention. At least two witnesses who are not inventors should also read and understand the record of invention so that they can sign and date this document. 

Were any graphs or design experiments completed If so, are they attached to the disclosure ... 

The legally trained member of the interdisciplinary committee should provide insight as to the significance of the technological advance and as to whether any commercial product ultimately derived from the invention could be protected by an issued patent. Another important function of this person is to determine the scope of the invention based on preceding events, pubHcations, or activities which may have otherwise limited the breadth of the invention. To this end, U.S. law requires that an invention satisfy a number of prerequisites or requirements before issuing a patent novelty, nonobviousness, utiHty, and disclosure. 

A fundamental statutory prerequisite to patentabiHty is novelty. A lack of novelty occurs when each and every element of the invention, as it is claimed, is found in a single disclosure which occurs before the date of invention. Such a disclosure may occur in any of a number of forms. To be an adequate disclosure, it should be catalogued or inventoried as a book might be in a reference Hbrary and open to pubHc dissernination. The novelty requirement presents the inventor with an extensive Hst of "cans" and "caimots." Unfortunately, the natural course of research and development often leads to activities which are much more readily categorized as "caimots" than "cans." Ultimately these activities may even proscribe the issuance of a patent if an appHcation is not filed in a timely fashion. 

However, even if there is some disclosure of the invention in the prior activity, the law of patents in the United States requires a high level of detail concerning the invention. A summary of factors to consider in establishing that an invention is not obvious is as foUows ... 

An additional statutory requirement is that of disclosure. A patent must provide the pubHc with a disclosure which is enabling, definite, and shows the best mode for practicing the claimed invention. 

The disclosure requirement provides that the patent be a teaching document, and enhance the breadth of knowledge held by the pubHc. By increasing the breadth of knowledge within the pubHc sector, a given patent faciHtates further technological development and growth, which in turn results in the issuance of additional patents. 

Best Mode. The patent appHcant must disclose the best mode of practicing the invention known to the inventor at the time the appHcation is filed. Concerns over best mode often arise when a patent appHcant seeks patent protection for an invention but, at the same time, desires to keep as a trade secret one aspect of the invention necessary to the production of a commercial product. This action denies the pubHc access to this information and undermines the poHcies of the patent system. This would effectively deprive the pubHc of information on the amount of disclosure made in exchange for the 17-yr patent grant, and hence it invaHdates the patent grant. 

As a result of the need for its disclosure, an inventor must disclose the best mode of practicing the invention that the inventor knows in drafting a patent appHcation. In some instances, the best mode may be the very commercial product developed by the inventor. However, in other instances the best mode may be an article, machine, or process which is economically or commercially impractical. Nonetheless, this embodiment needs to be disclosed in the patent. 

In drafting a patent appHcation, proceeding methodically through the several steps necessary to produce the type of disclosure legally and technically sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the laws of the United States is absolutely essential to a successful granting of the patent. A first step is to outHne those elements of the invention which are absolutely essential to its practice. A body of disclosure should be outlined for each of the essential elements of the claim. This disclosure should describe each element in terms of its function, as weU as the parameters that are relevant to the essential nature of the individual element. For example, if a chemical mixture has a component which acts so as to thicken the mixture, it is appropriate to outHne the family of constituents that can serve this function. At the same time, a full outHne of the disclosure of this individual element will include mention of those chemicals that are preferred for use within the mixture so as to perform the desired thickening function. 

Once the claims have been written, a fuller disclosure of the invention may be drafted. This description of the invention will generally foUow the outlines of the essential and optional elements. Such an outHne will include a functional description of elements including relevant broad and preferred parameters for each of the elements. The description of the invention also should explain the intended interrelationship of the elements that is needed to produce the invention. 

The trade secret must also be the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its security, though the disclosure of a trade secret does not necessarily end its protectable life. Rather, an evaluation must be made as to whether the disclosure was made by someone who knew, or should have known, that the information was a trade secret. If so, trade secret rights may stiH be protected. 

The protection of a trade secret is a complex task dependent upon any number of factors. The mere formation of an intention to maintain information as secret is not enough actual safeguards must be put into place. The owner of a trade secret must identify the information as a trade secret and protect the information from disclosure. Means used to prevent disclosure might include the following ... 

Destroying trade secret information by means that will prevent its disclosure, eg, incineration or shredding. 

Trade secrets become unprotectable when they are found in the pubHc domain, are independentiy developed, or are disclosed out of confidence. Events of the latter type may occur in any number of controUed or uncontroUed situations. For example, a promotional event such as a trade show or a required disclosure to a governmental agency may result in disclosure of the trade secret. Further, pubHcations in journals or maga2ines which may be necessary to promote products may lead to a disclosure of trade secrets. Idle correspondence, conversations, or communications with sales associates, suppHers, or distributors may also result in disclosure of trade secret information. 

A trade secret owner may also beneficially exploit the trade secret through licensing, sales, or various other business ventures based on the confidential information. Such cooperative ventures often raise other issues. Exploitation of trade secret information may also occur through the unintended disclosure of this information to the pubHc. Generally, the people who learn of trade secret information tend to be the trade secret owner s employees, customers, Hcensees, suppHers, and joint venture partners. 

Trade secret rights are generally violated through an unauthorized use by someone other than the owner. This use may take the form of theft or misappropriation for later use in a commercial product. The unauthorized use can also take the form of an unauthorized disclosure to a third party who is not bound to keep the information confidential. 

Another form of misappropriation is the disclosure or use of a trade secret of another without consent, by a person who used "improper means" to acquire knowledge of the trade secret. "Improper means" generally include theft, bribery, misrepresentation, breach or inducement of a breach of a duty to maintain secrecy, or espionage. 

Patent laws provide for several stages in the life of an application for a patent on an invention. The pattern followed by patent laws in effect in most industrialized countries during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and still in effect in the United States in 1995, calls for the examination of all patent appHcations to certify that the claimed invention meets the national standards for novelty, usehilness, and inventiveness. The owner of the technology to be patented files appHcation papers that include a specification containing a description of the invention to be patented (called the disclosure) and claims defining the limits of the invention to be protected by the patent, a formal request for the issuance of a patent, and fees. Drawings of devices and apparatuses, electrical circuits, flow charts, etc, are an important part of the disclosures of most nonchemical and many chemical patents. 

The bulk of the patent specification is the disclosure, the text and illustrations that describe the claimed invention in detail and explain how the claimed invention differs from the prior art. Modem patent disclosures contain a summary of the claimed invention, a description of the background of the invention, a general description of the way in which the invention is made and used, specific examples, and, where appHcable, drawings of the invention in general or specific embodiments. The technical information provided in a patent specification may be used without infringing the patent only practicing the invention defined in the claims within the term and territory of the patent grant is forbidden. Because much of the information in patent specifications is never pubHshed in refereed journals or other nonpatent media, patent disclosures are an invaluable part of the technical Hterature. 

Patent documents differ from journal Hterature in several ways. First of all, they are legal documents whose disclosures support one or more claims that define an area of property rights. The language in patent documents can therefore be quite convoluted "patentese" as the appHcant strives to achieve the broadest possible scope of coverage. Examples provided in patents may never have happened. Based on the appHcant s understanding of the technical... 

---