Intellectual Property — page 8 of 9

Intellectual Property terms

701. reexamination proceeding at any time during the enforceability of a patent any person may file a request for the USPTO to conduct a second examination of any claim of the patent…
702. reference A document that discloses subject matter that is material to a determination of the patentability of a claimed invention. MPEP 2126, MPEP 2126.
703. reference (prior art) -- see MPEP 900 for information
704. Reference Character A numeral or letter used to identify an element on a patent drawing.
705. Registration Lining up a forms image to determine which fields are where. Also, entering pages into a scanner such that they are correctly read.
706. registration number a registered patent attorney/agent is assigned a registration number that they must include on patent correspondence and forms when representing others…
707. Reinstatement The process by which a life insurance company puts a policy back in force after it lapsed because of nonpayment of renewal premiums.
708. Reissue The issue of a patent that was issued previously in order to correct an error in the patent. MPEP 1401, MPEP 1402.
709. Reissue Application an application for a patent to take the place of an unexpired patent that is defective in one or more particulars (items or details) --see MPEP 201.
710. Reissue Patent A corrected U.S. patent that issues from an allowed reissue application. MPEP 1401, MPEP 1402, MPEP 1403.
711. rejection The refusal of a patent Examiner to allow a claim based on specific legal grounds. MPEP 706, MPEP 706.01.
712. Rejection, Final A rejection of a claim that occurs on the second or any subsequent examination of its patentability.
713. Rejoinder Opportunity for the plaintiff/petitioner to offer limited response to evidence presented by the defendant/respondent. See rebut.
714. Renewal A form of extending an unpaid loan in which the borrower's remaining unpaid loan balance is carried over (renewed) into a new loan at the beginning of the…
715. Renewal Fee The periodic fee charge by a patent office for maintaining a patent in force. MPEP 2501, MPEP 2504, MPEP 509.
716. representation of mark a clear depiction of the mark an applicant seeks to register. Every application must include a representation of the mark.
717. Representative Term used to indicate that a sample is similar to the population from which it was drawn, and therefore can be used to make inferences about that…
718. REPS Re-examination Processing System
719. Request (PCT) Form PCT/RO/101, filed with an international application in a receiving Office, which includes an indication of applicant(s) and a designation of one or…
720. request for extension of time to file a statement of use Extension Request - a sworn statement signed by the owner or a person authorized to sign on behalf of the owner, stating that the applicant still has a…
721. Request for Reconsideration A written communication to a patent office asking that a decision be reconsidered. MPEP 714.13, MPEP 818.03, MPEP 1214.01, MPEP 1214.03.
722. request for reexamination A request filed by a patentee or a third party seeking reexamination of one or more claims of a patent based upon an alleged substantial new issue of…
723. request to reinstate an application If an application is abandoned due to a USPTO Office error, an applicant may file a request to reinstate the application, instead of a petition to revive.
724. restriction if two or more independent and distinct inventions are claimed in a single application, the examiner may require the applicant to elect (designate) a…
725. restriction requirement This occurs when an examiner concludes that a patent application claims two or more independent and distinct inventions.
726. Revival of Abandoned Application To reinstate a patent application that has been abandoned (relinquished), either by express abandonment or by inaction.
727. Revocation Withdrawing the protections associated with a patent grant.
728. Right of Priority The right to priority of invention established by filing the first patent application in an appropriate patent office. MPEP 201.13, MPEP 201.
729. RO Receiving Office - the national Office or the intergovernmental organization with which an international application has been filed.
730. Routineer A person having ordinary skill in an art. See Person Skilled in the Art.
731. royalty Payment for use of an invention, usually a stated percentage of sales.
732. royalty (reasonable royalty) A hypothetical royalty fee used as a measure of damages to compensate for the infringement of a patent.
733. RPO Recovery Point Objective
734. RTO Recovery Time Objective
735. RUP Rational Unified Process
736. S&T science and technology
737. SAFE Secure Application Filed Electronically
738. SAN Storage Area Network
739. SB "SB" is used today as part of the label in our form designations (e.g., PTO/SB/05 ).
740. scope what is included - as in the scope of a claim
741. SCORE Supplemental Complex Repository for Examiners
742. SCP Standing Committee on the Law of Patents
743. SDM System Development Manager
744. search See Compliance Search, Concept Search, Contextual Search, Boolean Search, Full-Text Search, Fuzzy Search, Index, Keyword Search, Pattern Recognition…
745. search copy copy of an international application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty maintained by the International Searching Authority.
746. Search Report A report containing a list of citations of prior art references that, in the opinion of the searcher, are material to the patentability of a claimed…
747. SEAS Secure Environment Access Solution
748. Secondary Considerations Objective evidence of non-obviousness. MPEP 2141, MPEP 716.01(a).
749. Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability a sworn statement, filed by the owner of a mark registered on the Principal Register, claiming "incontestable" rights in the mark for the goods/services…
750. Section 8 Declaration of Continued Use a sworn statement, filed by the owner of a registration that the mark is in use in commerce. Section 8 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1058.
751. Section 8 Declaration of Excusable Nonuse a sworn statement, filed by the owner of a registration, that the mark is not in use in commerce due to special circumstances that excuse such nonuse and…
752. Section 9 Renewal Application a sworn document, filed by the owner of a registration, to avoid the expiration of a registration.
753. sequence listing -- see bio-sequence listing
754. Sequence Rules Rules promulgated by a patent office that concern the form of disclosures of inventions that contain nucleotide sequence data and/or amino acid sequence…
755. Serial Number a number assigned to a patent application when it is filed. A serial number is usually used together with a two digit series code to distinguish between…
756. series code a two digit code representing a period of time. Application Filing Date - examples: 01/01/1979-12/31/1986 Series 06; 01/01/1987-12/31/1992 Series 07…
757. service component a self contained business process or service with predetermined functionality that may be exposed through a business or technology interface -- see SCM…
758. service mark Not every business opportunity must be registered with the Department of Banking under the Connecticut Business Opportunity Investment Act.
759. SF a type of form designation such as Form SF51, meaning a Standard Form used throughout the Federal Government
760. SFFAC Statements of Federal Financial Accounting Concepts
761. SFFAS Statements of Federal Financial Accounting Standards
762. SIR a published statutory invention registration contains the specification and drawings of a regularly filed nonprovisional application for a patent without…
763. SIRA Search and Information Resources Administration, an organizational unit of the Patent business area. -- see Patent Resources and Planning for more
764. SITP Strategic Information Technology Plan
765. skill in the art An ordinary level of proficiency in a particular technology in which an invention is made.
766. SM service mark
767. small business concern for purposes of small entity determination per MPEP 509.02 - any business concern meeting the size standards set forth in 13 CFR Part 121 to be eligible…
768. Small Entity for purposes of small entity determination per MPEP 509.02 - means an independent inventor, a small business concern, or a nonprofit organization eligible…
769. SMART Standards, Mentor, Attempt, Review, Transition -- an informal development program used for USPTO's OCIO employees that identifies standards to work…
770. SOU Statement of Use
771. Special Status A status granted U.S. patent applications that have certain characteristics upon successful petition to the USPTO.
772. specification a written description of the invention and the manner and process of making and using the same -- see MPEP 608.01 for more
773. specimen a real-world example of how the mark is actually used on goods or in the offer of services.
774. SRM Service Reference Model - also known as a Service Component Reference Model -- a business and performance-driven, functional framework that classifies…
775. SSP Shortened Statutory Period -- see MPEP §710.02(b) for more
776. standard character format An applicant may submit a standard character format representation of a mark if (1) All letters and words in the mark are depicted in Latin characters…
777. statement of net cost compares fees earned to costs incurred during a specific period of time --locate Financial Statements in the Annual Performance and Accountability Reports
778. statement of use SOU - a sworn statement signed by the applicant or a person authorized to sign on behalf of the applicant attesting to use of the mark in commerce.
779. Status The legal standing of a patent appplication or patent. MPEP 102.
780. Statutory Bar A bar to patentability established by law. MPEP 2133.
781. statutory disclaimer Under 35 USC § 253 (paragraph 1) and 37 CFR 1.321(a), the owner (in part or in entirety) of a patent may relinquish all rights to a complete claim or…
782. Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) Registration of an invention with the USPTO to place an invention in the public domain.
783. Statutory Period The period within which a response be filed with the USPTO if abandonment of the application is to be avoided. MPEP 710.01, MPEP 710.01(a), MPEP 710.
784. Statutory Subject Matter Patentable subject matter. MPEP 2105.
785. stylized mark one type of depiction of the mark sought to be registered. Another name for this type of mark is "special form.
786. subsequent designation A request by the holder of an international trademark registration for an extension of protection of the registration to additional Contracting Parties.
787. Substantive Examination The examination of a patent application by a patent office to determine whether a patent should be granted on the claimed invention.
788. substantive reasons for refusal There are several substantive reasons for refusing registration of a mark. These include: likelihood of confusion; primarily merely descriptive or…
789. Substitute Patent Application an application which is in essence a duplicate of a prior (earlier filed) application by the same applicant abandoned before the filing of the substitute…
790. Substitute Specification A rewritten specification of a patent application filed after the filing date of the application that corrects some error but that does not introduce new…
791. suggestive mark a mark that, when applied to the goods or services at issue, requires imagination, thought or perception to reach a conclusion as to the nature of those…
792. supplemental register secondary trademark register for the USPTO. It allows for registration of certain marks that are not eligible for registration on the Principal Register…
793. surcharge due an additional fee that may be required due to late or insufficient payment of fees
794. Surrender of Patent An act that occurs concurently with the filing of a reissue patent application in the USPTO. MPEP 1416.
795. suspension inquiry letter an Office action inquiring as to the status of the matter that is the basis for suspension of an application.
796. suspension letter suspends the action on an application. An application may be suspended for a variety of reasons.
797. Swearing Back of Reference Removing a reference (e.g., publication) from the prior art by providing evidence to the USPTO that either (1) conception of the invention occurred prior…
798. TARR Trademark Application and Registration Retrieval system -- see TARR USPTO's online database for monitoring federal trademark applications and…
799. TC -- see technology center
800. TD -- see terminal disclaimer