The Invention Disclosure

• Before any written description has been submitted to a publisher or conference
• Before a description appears in an LBL report, press release, or any written report which will be available to people outside LBL and DOE
• Before any public demonstration of the invention
• Before any regular use of the invention at LBL or elsewhere except for testing and development
• Before any public disclosure, such as in a talk or in a poster or slide presentation, when the audience is not restricted to people from LBL, DOE, or DOE contractors
• Within six months after the invention is conceived

It is not a requirement that the invention be reduced to practice before a patent application is filed. That is, no model or actual unit must be constructed before a patent can be obtained. Ideas should be reported to the Patent Department, even though DOE may not make a decision about filing an application until after the operability of or need for the invention is shown by actual construction of a model or by laboratory operation of the invention.

No description of the invention can be made public until DOE has granted patent clearance.

The first step in reporting an invention to DOE and UC is the preparation of an Invention Disclosure by the inventor. Timely preparation of the Invention Disclosure (within six months after conception of the invention) is a requirement of Contract 31. Additionally, the Invention Disclosure provides an early written record that can be helpful in determining the first inventor when similar ideas are developed at about the same time.

The Invention Disclosure form is available by contacting the LBNL Patent Group, or you may download it in RTF by clicking here. If your invention is computer software, download the Software Disclosure and Abstract Form, a fillable/printable .doc file.

The Invention Disclosure is not a patent application; a patent application is a more formal document submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Invention Disclosure is a smaller package of information used by DOE and UC in making a decision as to whether to proceed with preparation of a patent application in the United States or other countries. A patent search, evaluation of the importance of the invention to DOE programs, commercial potential, degree of development, etc. may be considered in this decision.