Constructive Reduction to Practice [Patents] Law and Legal Definition
According to 37 CFR 41.201 [Title 37 -- Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights; Chapter I -- United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce; Subchapter A – General; Part 41 -- Practice Before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences; Subpart E -- Patent Interferences], the term constructive reduction to practice means “a described and enabled anticipation under 35 U.S.C. 102(g) (1) in a patent application of the subject matter of a count. Earliest constructive reduction to practice means the first constructive reduction to practice that has been continuously disclosed through a chain of patent applications including in the involved application or patent. For the chain to be continuous, each subsequent application must have been co-pending under 35 U.S.C. 120 or 121 or timely filed under 35 U.S.C. 119 or 365(a).”
