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Laboratory Notebooks - A Guide to Good Practice
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A laboratory notebook is an important document. The entries in a notebook may play a pivotal role in the United States in deciding who has rights to an invention. A laboratory notebook may also provide proof to support contractual arrangements, ownership of inventions or compliance with regulatory regimes.
To ensure that the entries in a laboratory notebook have good corroborative value, all entries in a notebook should meet a minimum standard to ensure that the material can be understood and reproduced.
The entries in a notebook should be signed by the researcher on a daily basis and the entries witnessed on a regular basis by another party who understands the work but who would not be considered an inventor.
The entries in a notebook should meet the US requirements for describing conception of an invention and its reduction to practice. The entries should also demonstrate that reasonable diligence was carried out in moving from conception of an invention to its reduction in practice.
Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick has produced a guide outlining "dos" and "don'ts" in relation to keeping a laboratory notebook. To request a free copy of the Guide to Good Practice, please email adam.trumble@pof.com.au
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