Patent Family

A patent family is the same invention disclosed by a common inventor(s) and patented in more than one country.

-- see patent family

All the patent application and patent documents that relate to he same invention regardless of the patent office involved. The patent family concept is used in patent searching, e.g., to find a published patent application (PCT, EPO, etc.) that corresponds to a (secret) U.S. patent application. MPEP 905.06.