Frequently Asked Questions

WHAT IS AN INVENTION?

A broad definition of an invention is "anything that is new". A patentable invention, however, is "the discovery or creation of a new material, a new process, a new use for an existing material, or any improvement of any of these". The inventive process consists of two steps: conception (mental formulation of the complete means by which a desired result is achieved) and reduction to practice (physically constructing and/or carrying out the mental formulation and testing to demonstrate the invention achieves the desired results).

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This page was last updated October 1, 2006.