prior-user right. Patents. The right of a first inventor to continue using an invention after someone else has patented it. • This right protects first inventors in most countries from the harsh effects of a first-to-file system. See PRIVATE-USE EXCEPTION(2).
private-use exception. 1. Copyright. FAIR USE. 2. Patents. An exception to the public-use statutory bar, allowing the inventor to use the invention for personal benefit for more than one year without abandoning patent rights under the statutory bars. — Also termed prior-user right. [Cases: Patents 75. C.J.S. Patents §§ 107–109.]
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