Disclosure Document Program

A program of the USPTO wherein, for a small fee, the USPTO will maintain a written document disclosing an invention and signed by the inventor in confidence for a period of two years as evidence of the date of conception. Diligent efforts to reduce the invention to practice must still occur from a period before the entry of another inventor into the field until the invention is completed. Many patent agents and patent attorneys recommend that it is better to disclose an invention in confidence to a person who is not an inventor in writing and then have the person sign and date the dislcosure indicating that he/she has "read, discussed and understood the disclosure." MPEP 1706.