Laboratory Documentation

The following record keeping procedure is highly recommended. First, all information should be recorded in bound notebooks, with each page serially numbered, and signed and dated as it is completed. All entries must be made in ink and all mistakes canceled by drawing a line through the error. No erasures should be made. All corrections need to be initialed and dated by the inventor. Also, if any blank spaces are left, they should be canceled by drawing a diagonal line through the space and initialed and dated by the inventor. A competent, technically knowledgeable staff member or colleague (who is not a co-inventor) should read each entry, and sign and date each page as a witness to the work. The date an invention is witnessed will likely be taken as the earliest date of invention, so it is important to have a witness read and sign each page describing an invention promptly as the invention is made. In the absence of notebook documentation, an inventor should download the Record and Disclosure Invention Form and us it to record the invention. Again, an independent witness should read, sign, and date the completed form. If a suitable witness is not available, the OTT will gladly act as a witness. Please call OTT at (202) 319-6444