35 U.S.C. § 105
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
EFFECTIVE DATE; SPECIAL RULES Pub. L. 101-580, §2, Nov. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 2863, provided that:"(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.-Subject to subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section, the amendments made by the first section of this Act [enacting this section] shall apply to all United States patents granted before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 15, 1990], and to all applications for United States patents pending on or filed on or after such date of enactment."(b) FINAL DECISIONS.-The amendments made by the first section of this Act [enacting this section] shall not affect any final decision made by a court or the Patent and Trademark Office before the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 15, 1990] with respect to a patent or an application for a patent, if no appeal from such decision is pending and the time for filing an appeal has expired."(c) PENDING CASES.-The amendments made by the first section of this Act [enacting this section] shall not affect the right of any party in any case pending in a court on the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 15, 1990] to have the party's rights determined on the basis of the substantive law in effect before such date of enactment."(d) NON-APPLICABILITY.-The amendments made by the first section of this Act [enacting this section] shall not apply to any process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, an embodiment of which was launched prior to the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 15, 1990]."
- invention
- The term "invention" means invention or discovery.
- process
- The term "process" means process, art or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.
- United States
- The terms "United States" and "this country" mean the United States of America, its territories and possessions.