What is ANTICIPATION? Definition of ANTICIPATION in Black's Law Dictionary
Act of doing or taking a thing before its proper time, Wilmington Trust Co. v. Wilmington Trust Co., 25 Del.Ch. 193, 15 A.2d 665, 668, 669. To do, take up, or deal with, before another; to preclude or prevent by prior action; to be before in doing, State ex rel. Todd v. Thomas, 127 Neb. 891, 257 N.W. 265, 96 A.L.R. 1470.
In conveyancing, the act of assigning, charging, or otherwise dealing with income before it becomes due.
In patent law, a person is said to have been anticipated when he patents a contrivance already known within the limits of the country granting the patent. Topliff v. Topliff, 12 S.Ct. 825, 145 U. S. 156, 36 L.Ed. 658.
An unsuccessful attempt to achieve a particular purpose is not "anticipation". Swan Carburetor Co. v. Nash Motors Co., D.C.Md., 25 F.Supp. 24, 34. The test being whether patentee has added anything of value to the sum of human knowledge, whether he has made the world's work easier, cheaper, and safer, so that return to prior art would be a retrogression. Butler v. Burch Plow Co., C.C.A.Cal., 23 F.2d 15, 24. But invention is not "anticipated" by accidental, incidental or unintentional use of some of its features, unless the benefits or ensuing results from such use are appreciated or recognized. Balaban v. Polyfoto Corporation, D.C.Del., 47 F.Supp. 472, 477, 478.
In law of negligence, "anticipation" is not confined to expectation. Kenney v. Wong Len, 81 N.H. 427, 128 A. 343, 344. But compare Hardy v. Missouri Pac. R. Co., C.C.A.Ark., 266 F. 860, 863, 36 A.L.R. 1. It means probability not possibility as applied to duty to anticipate consequences of conduct attacked as negligent. Empire Dist. Electrict Co. v. Harris, C.C.A.Mo., 82 F.2d 48, 52.
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That's the definition of ANTICIPATION in Black's Law Dictionary - Courtesy of Cekhukum.com.
