Which condition must be met for a 102(d) rejection to occur?

For a 102(d) rejection to occur, the specific condition that must be met is that the same applicant must have filed a foreign patent application before the filing of the U.S. application. This provision applies to situations where an inventor files for a patent in another country before they file in the United States. It is intended to prevent the applicant from obtaining a U.S. patent on an invention that they have already sought protection for elsewhere, thereby maintaining the principle of patent exclusivity and novelty.

When the applicant files a foreign application prior to a U.S. application, the U.S. patent examiner may impose a rejection under 102(d) if the foreign application is for the same invention. This emphasizes the importance of timing and the implications of global patent filings, as prior applications can affect the patentability of subsequent applications in the U.S.

The other options do not meet the specific requirements outlined in 102(d). For instance, multiple applications filed in different countries (as mentioned in one of the choices) do not trigger a 102(d) rejection unless at least one of those applications is filed before the U.S. application by the same applicant. Additionally, the notion of the invention being a new concept is not relevant to the criteria for a