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PatentsThe U.S. Patent & Trademark Office grants a patent if it determines that an invention is “novel, non-obvious, and useful.” A patentable invention may be any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, not including laws of nature, physical phenomena and abstract ideas, or naturally occurring materials (e.g., minerals, plants, microorganisms). Patents are a monopoly granted by the U.S. government permitting the owner of the patent to prohibit others from using the claimed invention. For patent applications filed after June 8, 1995, the patent term is nominally 20 years from the filing date. ["The Importance of Patents..."] Invention DisclosureAll Laboratory employees are required by their employment agreement to keep records of their inventions and to submit an Invention Disclosure at ideas.lanl.gov for each invention. (Note: Employee inventions developed on non-Laboratory time must also be reported.) In moving the Laboratory’s technologies from the lab to the marketplace, TT Division is responsible for identifying the most promising commercial opportunities during the invention disclosure process. One of the most difficult aspects of this process is selecting promising business opportunities for the constant stream of LANL inventions that are technically strong, compelling, and potentially important. The mission of TT is to find applications outside the Laboratory that benefit society as well as produce commercial value from LANL’s intellectual property. See TT Patenting and Commercialization Philiosophy (pdf) Also see Patent Process (Note: LANL Only).
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Note: Publication of an invention description prior to the filing of a U.S. patent application voids an inventor's option to obtain foreign patent protection.
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