Inequitable Conduct

The duty to disclose information that is material to patentability is found in 37 C.F.R. 1.56. This duty requires that each individual associated with the filing and prosecution of a patent application has a duty of candor and good faith in dealing with the U.S. Patent and Trade Mark Office (PTO) which includes the duty to disclose to the PTO all information known to that individual to be material to patentability.

While this duty has been in place for many years, it has received more attention recently due to a series of cases including Therasense v. Dickinson 953 F. 3d 1289 (Fed. Cir. 2010) that seems to be expanding the definition of what information must be brought to the attention of the examiner.