# MPEP § 2301.01: Statutory Basis > Federal · Agency guidance · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2301.01 ## Section - **Citation:** MPEP § 2301.01 - **Heading:** Statutory Basis - **Jurisdiction:** Federal - **Kind:** Agency guidance - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** August 14, 2026 - **Source:** Compiled text - **Location:** USPTO MPEP / Chapter 2300 - Interference and Derivation Proceedings / MPEP § 2301.01 ## Text 35 U.S.C. 102 (pre-AIA) Conditions for patentability; novelty and loss of right to patent. A person shall be entitled to a patent unless — ***** (g)(1) during the course of an interference conducted under section 135 or section 291 , another inventor involved therein establishes, to the extent permitted in section 104 , that before such person’s invention thereof the invention was made by such other inventor and not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed, or ***** 35 U.S.C. 104 (pre-AIA) Invention made abroad. (a) IN GENERAL.— (1) PROCEEDINGS.—In proceedings in the Patent and Trademark Office, in the courts, and before any other competent authority, an applicant for a patent, or a patentee, may not establish a date of invention by reference to knowledge or use thereof, or other activity with respect thereto, in a foreign country other than a NAFTA country or a WTO member country, except as provided in sections 119 and 365 of this title. (2) RIGHTS.—If an invention was made by a person, civil or military— (A) while domiciled in the United States, and serving in any other country in connection with operations by or on behalf of the United States, (B) while domiciled in a NAFTA country and serving in another country in connection with operations by or on behalf of that NAFTA country, or (C) while domiciled in a WTO member country and serving in another country in connection with operations by or on behalf of that WTO member country, that person shall be entitled to the same rights of priority in the United States with respect to such invention as if such invention had been made in the United States, that NAFTA country, or that WTO member country, as the case may be. A country, or (C) while domiciled in a WTO member country and serving in another country in connection with operations by or on behalf of that WTO member country, that person shall be entitled to the same rights of priority in the United States with respect to such invention as if such invention had been made in the United States, that NAFTA country, or that WTO member country, as the case may be. (3) USE OF INFORMATION.—To the extent that any information in a NAFTA country or a WTO member country concerning knowledge, use, or other activity relevant to proving or disproving a date of invention has not been made available for use in a proceeding in the Patent and Trademark Office, a court, or any other competent authority to the same extent as such information could be made available in the United States, the Director, court, or such other authority shall draw appropriate inferences, or take other action permitted by statute, rule, or regulation, in favor of the party that requested the information in the proceeding. (b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— (1) The term “NAFTA country” has the meaning given that term in section 2(4) of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act; and (2) The term “WTO member country” has the meaning given that term in section 2(10) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. 35 U.S.C. 135 (pre-AIA) Interferences. (a) Whenever an application is made for a patent which, in the opinion of the Director, would interfere with any pending application, or with any unexpired patent, an interference may be declared and the Director shall give notice of such declaration to the applicants, or applicant and patentee, as the case may be. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences shall determine questions of priority of the inventions and may determine questions of patentability opinion of the Director, would interfere with any pending application, or with any unexpired patent, an interference may be declared and the Director shall give notice of such declaration to the applicants, or applicant and patentee, as the case may be. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences shall determine questions of priority of the inventions and may determine questions of patentability. Any final decision, if adverse to the claim of an applicant, shall constitute the final refusal by the Patent and Trademark Office of the claims involved, and the Director may issue a patent to the applicant who is adjudged the prior inventor. A final judgment adverse to a patentee from which no appeal or other review has been or can be taken or had shall constitute cancellation of the claims involved in the patent, and notice of such cancellation shall be endorsed on copies of the patent distributed after such cancellation by the Patent and Trademark Office. ***** ## Nearby sections - [MPEP § 2301 Interference Proceedings](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2301.md) - [MPEP § 2301.01 Statutory Basis](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2301.01.md) - [MPEP § 2301.02 Definitions](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2301.02.md) - [MPEP § 2301.03 Interfering Subject Matter](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2301.03.md) - [MPEP § 2301.04 Applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(g) to Applications filed on or after March 16, 2013](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2301.04.md) - [MPEP § 2302 Consult an Interference Practice Specialist](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2302.md) - [MPEP § 2303 Completion of Examination](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2303.md) - [MPEP § 2303.01 Issuance and Suspension](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2303.01.md) - [MPEP § 2303.02 Other Outstanding Issues with Patents](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2303.02.md) - [MPEP § 2304 Suggesting an Interference](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2304.md) - [MPEP § 2304.01(a) Interference Search](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2304.01(a).md) - [MPEP § 2304.01(b) Obtaining Control Over Involved Files](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2304.01(b).md) - [MPEP § 2304.01(c) Translation of Foreign Benefit Application](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2304.01(c).md) - [MPEP § 2304.01(d) Sorting Claims](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2304.01(d).md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/MPEP_S2301.01. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.