Anticipation

The performance of an act or obligation before it is legally due. In patent law, the publication of the existence of an invention that has already been patented or has a PATENT PENDING, which are grounds for denying a patent to an invention that has substantially the same structure and function as the earlier invention.

In the law of NEGLIGENCE, anticipation refers to the knowledge that there is a reasonable probability that the consequences of particular conduct of one individual will result in injury to others.

The anticipation of an invention also occurs if the later invention is merely an ADAPTATION of an earlier patent, which would be obvious to a skilled person who need only exercise some mechanical skill to develop the same adaptation.