Title 35 of the United States Code

The sections of Title 35 govern all aspects of patent law in the United States.

Federally recognized forms of intellectual property are scattered throughout the United States Code.

Trademark and unfair competition law is defined in Chapter 22 of Title 15.

[1] Trade Secrets law, another form of intellectual property, is defined in Title 18.

[2] Title 35 has four parts, which are delved into further later in the article:[3] Sections 1 through 42 establish the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

[8] This may seem expansive, but there are limits to section 101 as outlined in the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure.

"[9][11] Section 102 describes some of the conditions when a patent should not be granted to an inventor based on the concept of novelty.

Each subsection of section 102 describes a different kind of prior art which can be used as evidence that an invention is already public.

Netscape Commc'ns Corp. v. Konrad is an example of a case that focuses on the public use and on-sale criteria of this section.

The most important judicial decision in interpreting 35 USC 103 is Graham v. John Deere Co. And more recently KSR v. Teleflex in which the Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed Graham v. Deere and moved away from reliance on the TSM test.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.