For Researchers

Published Research? Your Patent Filing Window May Already Be Running.

If you’ve published a paper, uploaded a preprint, or presented at a conference, US patent law gives you exactly one year from that date to file a patent application. After that, the right is permanently lost. Most researchers don’t know this until it’s too late.

Why Researchers Miss the Deadline

It’s not negligence — it’s the way academic incentives work. Tenure, promotions, and grant renewals are driven by publication speed. Patents don’t factor into these evaluations at most institutions. So researchers publish first and think about patents later — if they think about them at all.

"My TTO handles that"

University TTOs are often understaffed. They manage hundreds of faculty with small teams. Not every invention disclosure gets acted on — and some never reach the TTO at all.

"I can always file later"

Unlike most academic deadlines, the 102(b) statutory bar has no extensions, no late submissions, and no appeals. Once the one-year window closes, it's gone.

"Patents aren't relevant to my work"

If your research has commercial applications — which includes most biotech, medical device, software, and engineering publications — a patent may be more relevant than you think.

"I don't have the budget"

A provisional patent application costs a fraction of a full filing. And if you have federal funding, your grant may cover the cost entirely through TABA funds.

Disclosures You Might Not Realize Count

A published journal article is an obvious disclosure. But the clock often starts earlier than you think:

•arXiv, bioRxiv, or medRxiv preprint uploads — the upload date starts the clock, not the journal publication date

•Conference poster sessions — even if no proceedings paper was published

•Thesis or dissertation defense — a publicly defended thesis is a disclosure

•Supplementary data files published alongside a paper

•Grant abstracts published on NIH RePORTER or NSF Award Search

•Lab website descriptions of ongoing projects

•YouTube videos or social media posts demonstrating the invention

What You Can Do

Check your deadline — right now

Use our deadline calculator. Enter the date of your earliest disclosure and see exactly how many days you have left.

Don’t wait for your TTO

If you’ve filed an invention disclosure and haven’t heard back, follow up. If your TTO has declined to file, you may still be able to file independently. Either way, the deadline doesn’t wait.

Talk to a specialist attorney

Not all patent attorneys understand your field. You need one who knows your technology area and can assess your work quickly. Patent Advisory matches researchers with attorneys by CPC technology class — at no cost to you.

We match researchers with the right patent attorney

Patent Advisory connects university researchers, postdocs, and principal investigators with patent attorneys who specialize in their specific technology area. No cost to you. No obligation.

Tell us about your research and we’ll find an attorney who understands your field.

Get matched with an attorney