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<div>I got an obviousness rejection based in part on a paper published 6
months before the patent application filing date. The paper had 8
authors, 2 of whom were inventors on the patent. </div><div>I asserted
that the paper was not prior art based on 35 USC 102(b)(1) - a paper
published less than one year before the filing date made by the inventor
or joint inventor is an exception to 102(a)(1). </div><div>The examiner
refused to discount the paper b/c of the other authors. This is part of
MPEP 2153.01(a), explaining that a disclosure is not prior art if it
(1) was made one year or less before the effective filing date of the
claimed invention; (2) names the inventor or a joint inventor as an
author or an inventor; and (3) does not name additional persons as
authors on a printed publication or joint inventors on a patent. </div><div>My
view is that the MPEP takes an expansive reading of the statute. The
statute is silent as to the case, where as here, there are additional
authors on a paper that names the inventors as authors and was published
less than one year before the priority date. The MPEP reads in a
requirement that is not part of the statute. Moreover, the MPEP cites no
precedent for this added requirement.</div><div>I'm going to make this argument on appeal to the PTAB, which is the next step in this application. <br></div><div><br></div>
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