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I filed a PPA for a product in June 2013.
I publicly disclosed the product in December 2013 by releasing the product online (via a website and Amazon.com).
I'm filing the regular patent application now.
Some questions: Should I mention the product I released in my regular patent application? If so, how?
Can the PTO know that I released the product after my PPA filing date, so it's not prior art? If not, can I prove to them somehow that it's not prior art?
You let the USPTO know about things that may be prior art that might be significant by listing them on an IDS form that is filed with or shortly after your application. An action you took needs to be a year before the filing in order to be prior art. If the action only relates to things 100% covered in the provisional then the cut-off is a year before the provisional filing. If the action (product demonstration, shipment, offer for sale) was relative to content beyond what was covered in the provisional but that is covered in the non-provisonal, then the cut-off is a year before the non-provisonal filing date.
It sounds like the actions you took do not bar patently so you have no need to mention them. If there ever is an issue it would be later, in attempting to enforce your patent, so you should gather and save anything that might help you establish the facts if ever needed.
