Legal Definitions - Nolan Act

The Nolan Act was a specific piece of United States legislation passed in the aftermath of World War I. Its primary purpose was to address the disruption caused by the war to international patent filings. Specifically, it granted extensions to the deadlines for citizens of nations that had been considered enemies during the conflict to file or maintain their patent applications within the United States.

This Act recognized that wartime conditions, such as severed diplomatic ties, communication breakdowns, and travel restrictions, would have made it impossible for inventors and companies from these countries to comply with standard U.S. patenting timelines. By extending these deadlines, the Nolan Act aimed to ensure that these individuals and entities did not unfairly lose their intellectual property rights in the U.S. solely due to the war.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of the Nolan Act:

• Imagine a brilliant inventor in Germany who developed a groundbreaking new industrial process in 1917. Under normal circumstances, to protect this invention in the lucrative American market, they would have needed to file a U.S. patent application within a specific timeframe. However, with World War I raging, direct communication and legal processes between Germany and the U.S. were impossible. The Nolan Act would have provided a legal pathway for this German inventor to file their U.S. patent application after the war concluded, even if the original filing deadline had long passed, thereby preserving their right to seek patent protection in the U.S.

• Consider an Austrian chemical company that had a patent application pending with the U.S. Patent Office in 1915, before the U.S. entered the war. During the conflict, the U.S. Patent Office might have sent an "office action" — a request for more information or clarification — requiring a response within a set period. Due to the war, the Austrian company might have been unable to receive this communication or send a timely response. The Nolan Act would have granted this company an extension to respond to the U.S. Patent Office after the war, preventing their application from being abandoned due to circumstances entirely beyond their control.

• Suppose a Hungarian scientist filed a patent application for a new medical device in Hungary in 1918. To claim "priority" from this earlier filing in the U.S. (meaning their U.S. application would be treated as if filed on the same date as the Hungarian one, which is crucial for novelty), they typically would have had a one-year window to file a corresponding U.S. application. The war made it impossible for them to meet this international deadline. The Nolan Act would have extended this priority filing period, allowing the Hungarian scientist to later file their U.S. patent application and still benefit from their original 1918 Hungarian filing date, protecting their invention against any subsequent similar developments.