Defensive publication means deliberately making an invention, variety or trait public, with enough detail and a reliable date, so that it counts as prior art. Patent offices cannot validly grant a patent on something already publicly disclosed, so publication keeps it in the public domain.
In practice
For cannabis, a defensive publication might be a dated, public record of a line's lineage, photos, growth habit and lab-measured chemotype, or a written description of a breeding or processing technique. To work, the record must be accessible, dated in a way that can be proven, and specific enough that a skilled person could recognise or reproduce it.
GenetixBay's public GB-ID records, dated journals and open trial results can serve this role as a side effect of good documentation. Whether a specific record defeats a specific patent claim is a legal question for patent professionals.
Rules differ by country, state, province and city, and change often. This is a general definition, not legal advice: check local rules.
Don't confuse with
- Open-source seed pledge: a promise about how seed may be used, not a disclosure for prior art.
- Trade secret: the opposite strategy, keeping it private.
