35 U.S.C. 102 is entitled, "Conditions for patentability; novelty and loss of right to patent". This statute provides the reasons why a patent application might not be allowed due to issues with novelty and statutory bars. 35 U.S.C. 102 is broken up into several different subsections, all dealing with these statutory bars.

There are 2 versions of 35 U.S.C. 102; pre AIA and post AIA. AIA stands for America Invents Act. One of the biggest impacts of the AIA was the conversion to the First Inventor to File System which impacts 35 U.S.C. 102.

• The America Invents Act (AIA) version of 35 U.S.C. 102 became effective March 16, 2013. It covers the statutory bars related to the First-Inventor-to-File System.
  
  
• The older version of 35 U.S.C. 102 (called pre AIA) covers the statutory bars related to the First-to-Invent System. This module provides an introduction to both versions of 35 U.S.C. 102.