What Is Enablement?

Patent Enablement

A patent must do more than describe an invention. It must also teach, or enable, a person in the same field to make or use the invention without them having to engage in an “undue” amount of guesswork or experimentation. If a patent does not enable the full scope that it claims, it can become invalid.

Under 35 U.S.C. §112(a), based on the 1988 court ruling In re Wands, courts use the “Wands factors” to help determine whether the disclosure meets the enablement standard. These factors include:

  • The quantity of experimentation necessary
  • The amount of direction or guidance presented
  • The presence or absence of working examples
  • The nature of the invention
  • The state of the prior art
  • The relative skill of those in the art
  • The predictability or unpredictability of the art
  • The breadth of the claims

Among those factors, determining the predictability of the art has become more pertinent in recent years. See our related article on how enablement is affected by predictability and unpredictability for more information.

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