Intellectual Property terms starting with P

128 terms

PAC Patent Assistance Center (prior), now the Inventors Assistance Center or IAC, call (toll-free) 1-800-786-9199 or 703-308-4357
PAIR Patent Application Information Retrieval -- see Patent EBC for more provides secure access for customers who want to view current patent application…
PALM Patent Application Locating and Monitoring system - an internal USPTO system that is the source of status information displayed in PAIR
PAR Performance and Accountability Report -- see Annual Reports for more
Parent Application The term "parent" is applied to an earlier application of the inventor disclosing a given invention --see MPEP 201.04 for more
Paris Convention See Convention.
PASAT Patent Application Specification Authoring Tool -- no longer used as of 22 August 2004
patent A grant to an inventor of the right to exclude others, for a limited time, from making, using, or selling his invention in the United States.
Patent Agent A person who is not an attorney who can legally represent an inventor or applicant in dealing with a patent office. MPEP 401.
Patent and Trademark Depository Library a library designated by the USPTO to receive copies of patents, CD-ROMs containing registered and pending marks, and patent and trademark materials that…
Patent Application -- see application (patent) -- see How to Get a Patent for guides for each type of patent application
patent application publication Pre-Grant Publication of patent application at 18 months from priority date -- see Search online
Patent Attorney A person who is an attorney who can legally represent an inventor or applicant in dealing with a patent office. MPEP 401.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) A treaty that set up a system for searching and, optionally, examination of patent applications.
Patent Examiner See Examiner.
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
patent infringement unauthorized making, using, offering to sell, selling or importing into the United States any patented invention -- see 35 USC § 271(a)
Patent Marking The marking of a patent-pending item "Patent Pending" or marking a patented item with one or more of the patent numbers.
Patent Misuse See Misuse.
Patent Number unique number assigned to a patent application when it issues as a patent -- see list -- see patent numbering formats for an explanation of the codes that…
Patent Owner The owner of patent property rights.
Patent Pending A phrase that often appears on manufactured items. It means that someone has applied for a patent on an invention that is contained in the manufactured…
Patent Search A study of the patent literature to determine the state of the art in a particular field; a study of the patent literature in a particular field to…
Patent Term The period during which a patent is valid.
Patent Watch The process of continuously monitoring newly published patent applications and issued patents in a particular field.
Patentability The issue of whether an invention is capable of being patented in a particular jurisdiction.
patentability search A search of existing patents and, perhaps, other publications to determine if the invention is novel and non obvious and thus patentable.
Patentable suitable to be patented; entitled by law to be protected by the issuance of a patent.
Patentable Subject Matter An invention that is capable of bing patented.
patentee the person to whom a patent was issued.
Patentschrift A granted German patent application.
payor number -- see customer number
PBG Patent Business Goals
PBG Final Rule Patent Business Goals Final Rule - implement streamlined patent practice; a result of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999
PBX Private Branch Exchange - a telephony term describing a private telephone network used within an enterprise.
PCT Patent Cooperation Treaty (more) provides a mechanism by which an applicant can file a single application that, when certain requirements have been…
PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) created a patent application that is standardized across the nations that signed it, which allows patent applicants to simultaneously seek protection for…
PCT Regulations provide rules concerning matters expressly refers to in the Patent Cooperation Treaty, any administrative requirements, matters, or procedures, and…
PDF Portable Document Format - a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing…
PEAI Patent Enterprise Access Integration
Pending The status of a patent application that occurs before either an application is abandoned (withdrawn) or a patent issues.
Pending Patent Application A patent application that is pending. See Pending.
Person See Persons
Person Skilled in the Art A fictitious person who has knowledge of all prior art and who has ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. MPEP 2141.03.
Petition Petition refers to the Form I-129 that is filed with USCIS by a prospective H-1B employer seeking approval to employ an H-1B worker and its accompanying…
Petition for Extension of Time A petition requesting an extension of the time period for response to an Office action. Payment of a fee is sometimes required. MPEP 710.02(e).
Petition to Revive A petition that a patent application be revived from either unintentional or unavoidable abandonment. MPEP 711.03(c).
petition to revive an application (trademark matters) a formal request for the USPTO to return an abandoned application to active status.
PetitionforCertiorari A petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision of a lower court.
petitions (patent matters) -- see MPEP 711.03 and Petitions Practice within the USPTO on Patent Matters for information
PG Pub Pre-Grant Publication of patent application at 18 months from priority date
Pioneer Invention An invention that breaks new ground in a technological art or that creates a new art.
Pioneer Patent A patent on an invention that breaks new ground in a technological art or that creates a new art.
PKI Public Key Infrastructure - a system of administrative procedures and methods, combined with secure information technologies, that is used to manage…
plant application (patent) are applications to protect invented or discovered, asexually reproduced plant varieties.
plant patent may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant. --see also patent
PLT Patent Law Treaty
PMA President's Management Agenda
PMO Program Management Office
POA Power of Attorney - formal assignment to another of the right to legally act on your behalf
POIS Patent Cooperation Treaty Operations Imaging System
postcard receipt a self-addressed, stamped postcard with itemized list of parts of patent application and number of pages per MPEP 503; used as a receipt for what was…
Power Authority to do. One has the power to do something if he is of legal age. Also, used as "powers," the term refers to authority granted by one person to…
PPAC Patent Public Advisory Committee
PPS PowerPoint Show file - a type of encapsulated, non-editable Microsoft slideshow
PPT PowerPoint file - a native, editable type of Microsoft slideshow file
practitioner (prak-TIH-shuh-ner) A person who works in a specific profession. For example, a doctor or nurse is a healthcare practitioner.
PRD Public Records Division
preamble The formal introductory clause of a patent claim. Depending on the circumstances, the preamble may or may not define a narrowing element of the claim.
Preamble of Claim The part of the claim that precedes the transitional phrase. Often the preamble states the purpose of the invention, as in "A device for transporting cars…
precautionary designation designation of a Contracting State in an international application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty which must be confirmed prior to 15 months…
Precedent Laws established by previous cases which must be followed in actions involving identical circumstances. See stare decisis in Foreign Words Glossary.
preferred embodiment The preferred embodiment of an invention can usually be interpreted as being recited as the best mode known to the inventor of carrying out the invention.
prejudgment interest In patent litigation, prejudgment interest is interest on monetary judgment against an infringer awarded to a prevailing party measured from the date of…
Preliminary Amendment An amendment to a patent application filed simultaneously with the filing of the patent application or an amendment to a patent application filed before…
Preliminary Examination A preindictment hearing at which the prosecutor must present evidence sufficient to establish probable cause that a federal offense was committed and that…
Preliminary Examination Report A report notifying an applicant of the results of an International Preliminary Examination. MPEP 1860.
Preliminary Statement In an interference proceeding, a statement made under oath that sets out who made an invention and where and when it was made. MPEP 2321, MPEP 2322.
Presumption of Validity An presumption that a patent issued by a patent office is valid.
Prima facie On the face of it; at first view.
primary examiner a patent examiner who is fully authorized to sign office actions (signatory authority) regarding patentability
Principal Register primary trademark register of the USPTO. When a mark has been registered on the Principal Register, the mark is entitled to all the rights provided by the…
PrinTEAS a former feature of the USPTO's electronic filing system that allowed applicants to complete a trademark application on-line, and then print it out for…
Printed Matter A publication. MPEP 2128
prior art it's what we live for! It is technology or knowledge of technology, existing in the public domain, in the form of existing patents, trade publications…
Prior Art Reference See MPEP 900 for information
Prior Public Use Display of an unpatented invention under circumstances in which the invention enters the public domain. MPEP 2133.01(a).
prior-art statement Also known as an information disclosure statement, this is a document filed in the U.S.
priority The Bankruptcy Code's statutory ranking of unsecured claims that determines the order in which unsecured claims will be paid if there is not enough money…
priority action a letter in which an examining attorney sets forth specific requirements that the applicant must meet before an application can be approved for…
priority claim An unsecured claim that is entitled to be paid ahead of other unsecured claims that are not entitled to priority status.
Priority Date The filing date of the first patent application disclosing an invention, which filing date has occurred no more than 12 months before the filing date of a…
Priority Document A certified copy of a patent application filed no more than 12 months before the filing date of the later-filed application claiming the priority date of…
PRM Performance Reference Model - a standardized framework to measure the performance of major IT investments and their contribution to program performance --…
pro se A nonlawyer who represents himself or herself in a court proceeding.
Pro se Applicant An applicant for patent (inventor) who is representing himself/herself. MPEP 401, MPEP 707.07(j).
process A method of making something, a process of operating something or a process of using something. Under U.S. law, one of the statutory classes of inventions.
Product A machine, an article of manufacture or a composition of matter. See Machine, Article of Manufacture, Composition of Matter. MPEP 2106.
Product By Process Claim A patent claim that describes a product invention by descibing the process that is used to make it.
Product of Nature A thing occurring in nature that is substantially unaltered by Man. An essentially pure culture of a microorganism does not occur in nature and is not…