What defines "prior art" under AIA's 102(a)(1)?

The definition of "prior art" under the America Invents Act (AIA) specifically refers to information that is publicly available and can be used to assess the novelty and non-obviousness of a claimed invention. The correct choice indicates that prior art includes any information or evidence that has been made available to the public, regardless of the medium through which it was disclosed, such as publications, patents, presentations, and even products sold or offered for sale.

By this definition, prior art encompasses the broad spectrum of what has been publicly disclosed before the effective filing date of a patent application. This ensures that inventors are incentivized to innovate while simultaneously preventing the patenting of inventions that are not new or are obvious based on previously shared knowledge.

In contrast, the other options are either too narrow or do not fully capture the comprehensive nature of prior art under the AIA. For instance, limiting prior art solely to patents does not account for other types of publicly available information, and options that suggest only a portion of public disclosures miss the broader implications intended in the AIA. Thus, being available to the public and utilized in public context is the essence of prior art as defined by AIA 102(a)(1).