Lab Notebooks - University of Pittsburgh

Pitt Innovator LIBRARY
I.P. Protection
Best Practices for
Laboratory Notebooks
I
n the United States, if two or more patent
applications are filed on the same invention,
the patent will be awarded to the applicant
with the earliest date of invention. In the rest of the
world, in a similar situation, the patent would be
awarded to the first person to file a patent
application on the invention. The United States is
thus known as having a "first to invent" patent
system and other countries use a "first to file"
system.
In a first-to-invent system, if a dispute or question
arises as to which of two inventions was invented
first, the patent generally will be awarded to the
inventor who can prove the date when he or she
conceived the invention. Proof must be in the form
of documentary evidence, not merely a statement
by the inventors based on their recollection of
events. The best form of documentary evidence, of
course, is a laboratory notebook.
Keeping good notebooks -- The purpose of your
laboratory notebook is to document how and when
your inventions have occurred and show what steps
have been taken, and by whom. It is important to
keep these records in case a question ever arises
about inventive contributions or date of the
invention. Questions don't occur in every patent
application, but this issue is not uncommon. Lack
of documentation could result in a loss of your
patent if the dates or inventors are challenged.
Therefore, develop good practices for keeping
records regarding your inventions.
What to include -- Your notebook should include
a description of the problem that you’re studying, a
description of your research approach, and any
initial ideas or approaches under consideration.
Create your notebook entries as you form your
ideas and conduct your experiments. Perhaps most
importantly, record the conception of any new
ideas, particularly if they seem to represent an
important scientific breakthrough.
Ideas, theories, lines of inquiry -- It is important
for you to be able to prove when and how you
made your invention. Inventions are considered to
have two major development steps: conception and
reduction to
practice.
Conception
occurs when an
you have a
first conceive
complete idea for
a solution to a
problem. This
must be more extremely
than an idea for a
line of study, important, so
however.
The date that you
your invention is
ensure that your
entry is complete,
signed, dated, and
You should fully
describe your
concept in your
notebook -- in
sufficient detail
that someone witnessed.
skilled in the field
could understand
your invention.
The date that you first conceive your invention is
extremely important, so ensure that your entry is
complete, signed, dated, and witnessed. Record any
additional ideas and improvements on your
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invention as they occur, including notes from
laboratory group meetings if the work is discussed,
and note what contributions or suggestions are
made and by whom.
Experimental results and data – Make sure you
record data about any experiments in sufficient
detail so they could be reproduced. Include
information regarding equipment, materials, times,
conditions and methods used. Your invention is
considered to be reduced to practice when your
idea can be made or exhibited to achieve the
desired result. Include all data in your notebook,
either by directly recording it in the book or by
stapling photocopies of the data into the book with
sufficient explanation written in the notebook to
illustrate that the data is genuine.
How to record information – How you record the
information is almost as important as the
information itself. Make regular entries in your
notebook as you perform experiments and collect
data. Ideally this should be done on a daily basis,
but this is not always practical. Consider the
following six guidelines for best practices:
• Use a bound notebook. Choose a bound book
so that no pages can be added, deleted, or
placed in a different order.
• Include the names of all research
investigators. The first page of your notebook
should include the name of the principal
investigator, the names of all other
investigators involved (both Pitt researchers
and external collaborators), the title of the
research project, and information about the
funding for the project.
• Sign and date every page. Record all
Information as it occurs, and make sure that all
research collaborators sign and date every
page of the notebook. Include the dates of the
experiments, and document what the results
show. Notations should be objective and
factual.
• Don’t erase or tear out pages. Enter all
information into the notebook in ink. Do not
erase or delete anything from the notebook.
Cross out information that is not relevant, but
ensure that all notes are legible.
• Don’t skip pages. Any blank space on a page
or an empty page should be marked with an 'x'
or diagonal line through it to clearly indicate
that no information was added to the record at
a later date.
• Obtain witnesses. This is the most important
step in the process. It is extremely important to
have someone who is not an inventor record
that he or she has read the entries and
understands the work. This ensures that the
record of any invention is not based solely on
the word of the inventors, but rather
strengthens the validity of the documentation
should there be a question regarding when or
how the invention occurred.
Pitt Innovator LIBRARY is a service of the University of Pittsburgh
Office of Technology Management and Office of Enterprise Development.
©2012 University of Pittsburgh.
www.innovation.pitt.edu
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