anticipation

Anticipation is the performance of an act or obligation before it is legally due. Some common uses of the term “anticipation” in a legal sense include:

• In the context of patent law, anticipation refers to the prior invention or disclosure of the claimed invention by another, or the inventor's own disclosure of the claimed invention by publication , sale , or offer to sell prior to the inventor's application for a patent. In other words, if someone else has known about or used the invention before the patent applicant applies for a patent, that patent applicant will not be entitled to a patent.
• In the context of conveyance , anticipation refers to the act of assigning, charging, or otherwise dealing with income before it becomes due.

[Last reviewed in June of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

Keywords

• patent; novelty

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