Enrichment · Passion Projects

Write it down
before you show it.

Student inventors show their best ideas at science fairs, in videos and in pitch contests, often before anyone has written down who thought of what. Make a clear, dated record: the inventors and their parts, how it works, what is new, when it went public and who might own a share. Then print it and have it witnessed.

Write a disclosureWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Passion projects kit, $39 for 34 items.

Your disclosure

The worked example is made up: two students’ self-watering planter, shown at a regional science fair in September, with one witness and no team agreement yet. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Passion Projects$5

What you finish with
A disclosure per invention with its kind, dates of conception and of the record, each inventor and what they contributed; the problem, how it works, what is new and similar work found; supporting records; the first public showing and where; four ownership questions; witnesses. Counts the days left in the U.S. one-year grace period and flags a missing witness and ownership questions not checked. Prints a version with lines for inventors’ and witnesses’ signatures.
Who it is for
Student inventors, science and engineering fair teams, makerspace members and the teachers who mentor them.
Format
Browser form with a saved record per invention. Prints the disclosure for signatures, a summary or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Passion projects kit ($39) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Name every person who contributed to the idea and what they added.
  2. Describe the problem, how it works and what is new, plainly enough to build from.
  3. Record any public showing and check who might own a share.
  4. Print the signature version, sign it and have a non-inventor witness sign and date it.
  5. Keep the signed copy with your notebooks and drawings.

Write a disclosure

Timing matters

One public showing starts a clockIdeaApr 12Science fairSep 26This recordNov 9One yearSep 26, 2027In the United StatesAn inventor’s own public showing doesnot block a patent if an application isfiled within one year.In most other countriesAny public showing before filing canblock a patent there. There is no graceyear.A public showing starts a clockSep 26, 2026Shown at the science fairSep 26, 2027U.S. grace year endsIn the United StatesYour own showing does not block a patentif you file within one year.In most other countriesAny showing before filing can block apatent. No grace year.
A general picture of how timing works, not legal advice. A patent attorney or agent can tell you what applies to your invention.

Why write it down if the U.S. is first to file

Since 2013 the United States gives a patent to the first inventor to file, not the first to invent, so a notebook no longer wins a priority contest. A dated record still matters: it settles who the inventors are, shows what you had before you shared it, and is the starting point for a provisional application or a conversation with a patent attorney.

Who counts as an inventor

An inventor is someone who contributed to the idea as claimed, not someone who only built the prototype, ran the tests or paid for parts. Listing the right people matters; it decides who shares ownership.

Sources

  1. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. America Invents Act: first-inventor-to-file and Provisional Application for Patent (uspto.gov).
  2. 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(1): disclosures made one year or less before the effective filing date (uscode.house.gov).
  3. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Inventor and Entrepreneur Resources and the Patent Pro Bono Program (uspto.gov).
  4. World Intellectual Property Organization. Grace periods for the disclosure of an invention before filing (wipo.int).

The worked example is made up. This form keeps a record; it is not a patent application, does not protect an invention by itself and is not legal advice. Talk to a registered patent attorney or agent, or the USPTO’s pro bono program, before you rely on any timing. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.