Law — page 13 of 35

Law terms

1201. ex parte reexamination -- see reexamination proceeding If the request for ex parte reexamination is filed by a third party and not the patent owner, the third party may not…
1202. Ex post facto After the act is done; after the fact.
1203. Ex proprio motu By his own motion.
1204. Ex relatione (Abbr. ex rel.) On the information of or on the relation of.
1205. Exabyte A unit of 1000 petabytes. See Byte.
1206. Examination Review of a patent application to determine if a claimed invention is patentable. MPEP Introduction.
1207. examination copy a copy of an international application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty maintained by the International Preliminary Examining Authority.
1208. Examinations (Evidential) the questioning, testing, comparing, or analyzing of a custody item in a prescribed manner that is helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment relative to…
1209. Examinations (Training) objective evaluative instruments designed to measure job-related knowledge, skills or abilities and usually conducted in one or more of these formats…
1210. examiner An official of a patent office charged with determining the patentability of inventions claimed in patent applications.
1211. Examiner's Action A written communication from a patent Examiner that contains requirements and/or documents the reasons behind the Examiner's patentability decisions and…
1212. examiner's amendment a written confirmation of an amendment made to a trademark application. The trademark examining attorney assigned to the application will make the…
1213. examining attorney a USPTO employee who examines (reviews and determines compliance with the legal and regulatory requirements of) an application for registration of a…
1214. Examining Group See Art Unit.
1215. Example An example of one embodiment (implementation) of an invention. If the example is an actual ("working") example, i.e.
1216. exception the temporary suspension of some essential element of a policy, procedure, or requirement caused by circumstances that are expected to return to normal at…
1217. exceptional case In order to seek an attorneys' fees award as part of the relief granted to the prevailing party in patent litigation, it is necessary to show that the…
1218. Exceptions Declarations by either side in a civil or criminal case reserving the right to appeal a judge's ruling on a motion.
1219. Excludable time The Speedy Trial Act lists a number of events, often referred to as "excludables", which may make it impossible to begin a defendant's trial within the…
1220. Exclusionary Rule The rule preventing illegally obtained evidence from being used in any trial.
1221. exclusive license This is an agreement granting to one party exclusive rights under an issued patent, with the licensor giving up by the terms of the license the right to…
1222. exclusivity period The time during which only the debtor in a Chapter 11 reorganization can propose a plan or reorganization; generally at least the first 120 days after…
1223. Exculpatory Evidence Evidence which tends to show the defendant’s innocence.
1224. excusable nonuse -- see Section 8 Declaration of Excusable Nonuse
1225. Execute To complete; to sign; to carry out according to its terms.
1226. executive business Nominations and treaties; called executive business because these categories of business are received by the Senate from the President, rather than…
1227. Executive Calendar A list of executive business (i.e., treaties and nominations) available for Senate floor consideration.
1228. executive communication A message sent to the Senate by the President or other executive branch official. Presidential veto messages are an example of an "executive communication.
1229. executive session A portion of the Senate's daily session in which it considers executive business.
1230. Executor A person named in a will and approved by a probate court to administer the deposition of an estate in accordance with the instructions of the will.
1231. executory contract or lease Generally includes contracts or leases under which both parties to the agreement have duties remaining to be performed.
1232. Exempt property Property of a debtor that the law protects from the action of creditors.
1233. Exemption An exemption is a fixed dollar amount that you can subtract from your adjusted gross income to reduce your taxable income.
1234. exemptions, exempt property Certain property owned by an individual debtor that the Bankruptcy Code or applicable state law permits the debtor to keep from unsecured creditors.
1235. Exhibit A document or other item introduced as evidence during a trial or hearing.
1236. Exonerate Removal of a charge, responsibility or duty.
1237. Expedited Appeals The court will expedite or speed up cases involving child custody, Child Protective Act proceedings, termination of parental rights, adoption, and all…
1238. Experimental Use A public use of the invention that having the primary purpose is of testing of the invention. Experimental use is allowed in the U.S.
1239. expired Trademark registration is no longer active. The registrant failed to renew the trademark registration at the end of the registration period.
1240. Expiry Date The date when a patent has run its full term and the invention is no longer protected by it.
1241. export Data extracted or taken out of one environment or application usually in a prescribed format, and usually for import into another environment or…
1242. express abandonment A patent application may be expressly abandoned by filing a written declaration of abandonment identifying the application in the United States Patent and…
1243. express mail mailing label patent correspondence delivered to the USPTO via the "Express Mail Post Office to Addressee" service of the United States Postal Service (USPS) which is…
1244. Expungement Expungement means sealing the public record of a court action. If your eviction is expunged, then someone searching court files cannot find a record of…
1245. Exsanguination bleeding to death.
1246. Extended Partitions If a computer hard drive has been divided into more than four partitions, extended partitions are created.
1247. Extensible Markup Language (XML) Short for Extensible Markup Language, a specification developed by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortiumthe Web development standards board).
1248. Extension of Time An extension of the "period for reponse" stipulated in an Office action. MPEP 710.02(e).
1249. extension request -- see Request for Extension of Time to File a Statement of Use
1250. Extenuating circumstances Circumstances which render a crime less aggravated, heinous or reprehensible than it would be otherwise.
1251. External Proficiency Test an exam process/instrument prepared by an outside provider and used as a quality assessment sample.
1252. Extradition The surrender of an accused criminal by one state to the jurisdiction of another.
1253. extranet An Internet based access method to a corporate intranet site by limited or total access through a security firewall.
1254. Extrinsic Data Information about the file, such as file signature, author, size, name, path, and creation and modification dates.
1255. Facto In fact; in or by the law.
1256. failure of others A secondary test of patentability relevant to the issue of whether an invention is obvious is whether others have failed to come up with the solution…
1257. Fair Market Value Fair market value is the price you would have to pay to buy a particular asset or service on the open market.
1258. FAIT A fact; an act committed; a deed.
1259. False negative test result that states that an analyte is absent, when, in fact, it is present above the established limit of detection for the analyte in question.
1260. false positive test result that states that an analyte is present, when, in fact, it is not present or, is present in an amount less than a threshold or designated…
1261. False Positive/Negative A result that is not correct. This may be a result of performing a process incorrectly or using a process that is not accurate.
1262. family (patent) -- see patent family
1263. family farmer Individual and family engaged in farming operation.
1264. family farmer or family fisherman An individual, individual and spouse, corporation, or partnership engaged in a farming or fishing operation that meets certain debt limits and other…
1265. Family law Those areas of the law pertaining to families, i.e., marriage, divorce, child custody, juvenile, paternity, etc.
1266. Family Range A family range describes the range of documents from the first Bates production number assigned to the first page of the top most parent document through…
1267. Family Relationship A family relationship is formed among two or more documents that have a connection or relatedness because of some factor.
1268. fanciful marks comprise terms that have been invented for the sole purpose of functioning as a trademark or service mark.
1269. FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
1270. FAS Foreign Agricultural Service
1271. FASAB Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board
1272. FAST First Action System for Trademarks
1273. Fastener Quality Act Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5401 et seq., as amended by Public Law 104-113, Public Law 105-234, and Public Law 106-34); implementing regulations: 15 C.
1274. FAT (File Allocation Table) An internal data table on hard drives that keeps track of where the files are stored.
1275. Fault "Fault" means adultery, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, abandonment or reckless spending.
1276. FAX Short for facsimile. A process of transmitting documents by scanning them to digital, converting to analog, transmitting over phone lines and reversing…
1277. FBI rap sheet Informal term for a record kept by the FBI listing all arrests and convictions of persons charged with crimes.
1278. FDC Final Data Capture Once the fee, any correspondence, and/or drawings are matched with the application and all requirements have been met for issuance as a…
1279. FEA Federal Enterprise Architecture -- see Federal Enterprise Architecture for more
1280. Fed. R. Civ P Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
1281. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) A federal agency which regulates air commerce to promote aviation safety.
1282. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) A federal agency which investigates all violations of federal laws.
1283. Federal Circuit See Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC or Fed. Cir.).
1284. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) A federal agency which regulates interstate and foreign communications by wire and radio.
1285. Federal crime A violation of a criminal law passed by Congress. Federal crimes are investigated by federal law enforcement agencies and prosecuted by the U.S.
1286. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (FDIC) A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and State banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System.
1287. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service A federal agency which provides mediators to assist in labor-management disputes.
1288. federal public defender An attorney employed by the federal courts on a full-time basis to provide legal defense to defendants who are unable to afford counsel.
1289. Federal public defender organization The CJA provides for the establishment of such organizations to represent indigent defendants.
1290. federal question Jurisdiction given to federal courts in cases involving the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitution, acts of Congress, and treaties.
1291. federal question jurisdiction Jurisdiction given to federal courts in cases involving the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitution, acts of Congress, and treaties.
1292. Federal Register A daily publication which contains federal administrative rules and regulations.
1293. Federal Regulations The regulations of the departments and agencies of the U.S. Federal Government as published in the Code of Federal Regulations.
1294. Federal Reporters ("F.," "F.2d" or "F.3d") Books which contain decisions of the Circuit Courts throughout the country.
1295. federal rules of bankruptcy procedure Govern practice and proceedings in the bankruptcy courts.
1296. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure A body of rules developed by the federal judiciary that provides a comprehensive procedural code for use in federal criminal cases.
1297. Federal Supplement ("F. Supp.") Books which contain decisions of the District Courts throughout the country.
1298. Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA tax) A tax levied on employers based upon employee wages paid.
1299. federalism The theory under which the powers of government are divided between the states and the central government.
1300. Fee A charge or payment for products and services, a sum paid or charged for a privilege, for example, some financial institutions charge a monthly fee to…