In order for an invention to be patentable it must be new as defined in
the patent law, which provides that an invention cannot be patented if:
“(a) the invention was known or used by others in this country, or
patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign
country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent,” or
“(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in
this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country
more than one year prior to the application for patent in the United
States ...”
If the invention has been described in a printed publication anywhere in
the world, or if it has been in public use or on sale in this country
before the date that the applicant made his/her invention, a patent
cannot be obtained. If the invention has been described in a printed
publication anywhere, or has been in public use or on sale in this
country more than one year before the date on which an application for
patent is filed in this country, a patent cannot be obtained. In this
connection it is immaterial when the invention was made, or whether the
printed publication or public use was by the inventor himself/herself or
by someone else. If the inventor describes the invention in a printed
publication or uses the invention publicly, or places it on sale, he/she
must apply for a patent before one year has gone by, otherwise any right
to a patent will be lost.
Even if the subject matter sought to be patented is not exactly shown by
the prior art, and involves one or more differences over the most nearly
similar thing already known, a patent may still be refused if the
differences would be obvious. The subject matter sought to be patented
must be sufficiently different from what has been used or described
before that it may be said to be nonobvious to a person having ordinary
skill in the area of technology related to the invention. For example,
the substitution of one material for another, or changes in size, are
ordinarily not patentable.