Sufficiency of Disclosure in Patent Applications

Patentees routinely file applications in multiple countries across the globe. Yet, drafting and prosecuting global patent portfolios can be challenging, particularly as local patent laws vary significantly with respect to what disclosure in a patent application is necessary to support and enable the claimed invention. Practitioners must understand these differences in sufficiency of disclosure requirements, not just across different countries, but also across different areas of technology. With the high costs necessary to file and prosecute a patent in each country, practitioners and patentees alike will appreciate this in-depth guide to assist in understanding which types of applications and claims have a better chance at success across multiple jurisdictions. This volume includes 16 country/jurisdiction-specific chapters including: Australia, Canada, China, the EPO and the UPC, Japan, the United States and countries in South America. These chapters include: background information and a high-level summary of sufficiency of disclosure requirements and issues for each country or jurisdiction; easy-to-follow flowcharts and figures to enable the reader to understand pertinent issues quickly; discussion of timely case law and strategies for handling; and up-and-coming sufficiency of disclosure topics. Designed for patent practitioners who deal with software, electrical, biological, pharmaceutical, mechanical or chemical patent work, this book is an essential reference to anyone seeking international patent protection.