statutory invention registration
statutory invention registration. Patents. An official procedure for placing an invention in the public domain by publishing the patent abstract (which is included with the invention’s original application) in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Official Gazette, thus making the abstract a prior-art reference as of the application’s filing date. • The process results in abandonment of the patent application. If an alternative form of disclosure is used, the prior-art reference’s effective date is the date of publication. — Abbr. SIR. See DEFENSIVE DISCLOSURE. [Cases: Patents 115. C.J.S. Patents § 210.]
