4.7.1.2: Patent Disclosures

608 Disclosure [R-11.2013]

To obtain a valid patent, a patent application as filed must contain a full and clear disclosure of the invention in the manner prescribed by 35 U.S.C. 112(a). The requirement for an adequate disclosure ensures that the public receives something in return for the exclusionary rights that are granted to the inventor by a patent. All amendments and claims must find descriptive basis in the original disclosure. No new matter may be introduced into an application after its filing date. Applicant may rely for disclosure upon the specification with original claims and drawings, as filed. See also 37 CFR 1.121(f) and MPEP § 608.04.[1]

This refers to disclosures within the patent application itself.

Defensive Disclosures

The IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin was a technical publication produced by IBM between 1958 and 1998. The purpose of the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin was to disclose inventions that IBM did not want their competitors to get patents on. The Bulletin was a form of defensive publication. By publishing the details of how to make and use the invention, patent examiners could have a searchable source of prior art that they could cite against subsequent patent applications filed by others on the same or similar inventions.[2]

A defensive publication, or defensive disclosure, is an intellectual property strategy that can be employed used to prevent another party from obtaining a patent on a product, apparatus or method for instance. The strategy consists in disclosing a description and/or drawing of the product, apparatus or method so that it enters the public domain and becomes prior art.

Another method for making defensive disclosures is by the use of Technical Disclosure Commons (TDCommons).[4] This mechanism allows the disclosure of information to prevent patenting of the ideas in the disclosure as they would be in prior art that patent examiners assess for novelty.

References

1. 608-Disclosure. The United States Patent and Trademark Office. Accessed February 16, 2026.
2. Wikipedia - IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin. Accessed February 16, 2026. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
3. Wikipedia - Defensive Publication. Accessed March 13, 2026. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
4. Technical Disclosure Commons. Accessed March 13, 2026.