Electronic Lab Notebooks As Evidence In Interference Proceedings

In the United States, the first to invent is entitled to obtain a patent on an invention. When more than one patent application is filed by different inventors or groups of inventors claiming an identical invention, the U.S. Patent Office may hold an interference proceeding to determine the first inventor(s). This determination focuses on the date of invention by establishing the competing inventors' dates of conception and reduction to practice, and potentially, the diligence of the parties to reduce their invention to practice following conception. Similarly, establishing the date of invention to determine the first to invent or to antedate prior art may be required in litigation.