Konstantin Linnik, a partner in the firm's Life Sciences practice group, published an article on MassBio's blog MassBioHQ, titled "Whose Invention Is It Anyway? Or, Should I Throw Away My Lab Notebook?" Many scientists assume that recent changes to our patent system rendered the signing of lab notebooks unnecessary. However, the practice of keeping and witnessing laboratory notebooks on a regular basis is still as important as ever, as witnessed notebooks are still often a primary means of proving invention, as they represent the most direct, timely and corroborated record for most inventions. The new purpose of the notebooks is to prove conception of the invention prior to a communication with a third party that "derives" your invention. Where the invention is allegedly disclosed to a third party, for example, in the course of a scientific collaboration, the third party might file a separate patent application on that invention before the original inventor. The inventor may be able to establish that the later filing applicant derived the invention from his disclosure by instituting a so-called derivation proceeding at the US Patent Office.
Konstantin currently serves as a co-chair of MassBio's Legal and Regulatory committee and will moderate a panel of experts at the MassBio Forum "Best Practices in Protecting and Exploiting Intellectual Property" on July 17.
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