Law — page 14 of 35

Law terms

1301. Fee, Filing The fee charged by a patent office for filing a patent application. MPEP 607, MPEP 509.
1302. Fee, Issue The fee charged by a patent office for issuing (granting) a patent. MPEP 1306, MPEP 509.
1303. Fee, Maintenance The periodic fee charge by the U.S. patent office for maintaining a patent in force. MPEP 2501, MPEP 2504, MPEP 509.
1304. Fee, Petition The fee charged by a patent office for reveiwing a petition filed by an applicant. MPEP 1002.
1305. Felony A serious criminal offense. Under federal law, any offense punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.
1306. Feme covert A married woman.
1307. Feme sole A single woman (unmarried).
1308. Feme, femme Woman.
1309. FFMIA Federal Financial Management Improvement Act
1310. Fianza Efectivo, bono (obligación, pagaré) u otra garantía depositada con el tribunal para obtener la liberación de un demandado o acusado.
1311. Fiber Optics Transmitting information by sending light pulses over cables made from thin strands of glass.
1312. FICC Federal Identity Credentialing Committee
1313. Fiduciario Persona autorizada para representar a otra en materia de fideicomiso (trust).
1314. Fiduciary Undertaking to act as executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, or trustee for a family trust, authorized trust, or testamentary trust, or receiver…
1315. Field (or Data Field) A name for an individual piece of standardized data, such as the author of a document, a recipient, the date of a document or any other piece of data…
1316. Field of Endeavor The area of technology that an inventor invents within. Also called technical field or field of the invention. MPEP 608.01(c).
1317. Field of the Invention See Field of Endeavor.
1318. Field of Use The technical field or market within which an invention is licensed. The licensee mahy not sell the invention within other markets.
1319. field of use license A license to rights in intellectual property which is limited to a defined use.
1320. Field Separator A code that separates the fields in a record. For example, the CSV format uses a comma as the field separator.
1321. Figure Legend An explanations of what marks mean on a drawing. Patent drawings do not have legends.
1322. file To place a paper in the official custody of the clerk of court/court administrator to enter into the files or records of a case.
1323. File Allocation Table Microsoft operating systems store data in fixed length blocks of bytes called clusters, with the size of these blocks depending on the type of storage…
1324. File Compression See Compression.
1325. File Conversion Changing data or a file from one format to another. For example, Native files may be converted from their original source format (e.g.
1326. File Extension A tag of three or four letters, preceded by a period, which identifies a data file's format or the application used to create the file.
1327. File Format The organization or characteristics of a file that allow it to be used with certain software programs.
1328. File History The complete file of a patent application containing all related papers prepared by the patent office and the applicant during the prosecution of the…
1329. File Level Binary Comparison Method of de-duplication using the digital fingerprint (hash) of a file. File Level Binary comparison ignores metadata, and can determine that SHOPPING…
1330. File Server When several or many computers are networked together in a LAN situation, one computer may be utilized as a storage location for files for the group.
1331. File Sharing The ability for computer systems networked together to share files that are stored on the file server.
1332. File Signature Within the file, the file signature is the information about the true program-related origin of the file and, therefore, its type.
1333. File Slack The unused space on a cluster that exists when the logical file space is less than the physical file space.
1334. File Slack Space File slack potentially contains randomly selected bytes of data from computer memory because DOS/Windows normally writes in 512 byte blocks called sectors.
1335. File System The engine that an operating system or program uses to organize and kept track of files.
1336. File System Metadata Data that can be obtained or extracted about a file from the file system storing the file.
1337. file transfer Moving named files from one computer or network to another
1338. file wrapper The folder into which papers for a particular application are collected and maintained.
1339. File Wrapper Estoppel A restriction in the interpretation of a claim that exists because of an admission in the record by the applicant.
1340. Filename The name of a file, excluding root drive and directory path information. Different operating systems may impose different restrictions on filenames, for…
1341. filibuster Informal term for any attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length, by offering numerous procedural motions…
1342. filing basis The legal basis for filing an application for registration of a mark. The Trademark Act sets out five filing bases, and an applicant must specify and meet…
1343. Filing Date This is the date a filer submits a financial disclosure report to the supervisor or senior legal counsel for review, usually the date the filer eSigns the…
1344. Filing Fee The fee required for filing various documents. In civil actions, the filing fee is $120.00.
1345. filing receipt When an application is submitted via e-TEAS, the Office immediately issues a confirmation of filing via e-mail that includes the serial number and filing…
1346. filing refusal also known as a final Office action, which makes "final" any outstanding refusals or requirements.
1347. Filtering Electronic filtering of emails and files for privilege or by keyword, file, type, or name.
1348. Final Action An Office action that contains a final rejection of one or more claims or another final action. See Final Rejection. MPEP 706.07, MPEP 706.07(a), MPEP 706.
1349. final decree Order of the court that the case has been fully administered and is closed.
1350. Final Judgment A final decision by the trial court.
1351. final office action (rejection) an Office action on the second or any subsequent examination or consideration by an examiner that is intended to close the prosecution of a nonprovisional…
1352. Final Rejection A rejection of a claim that is made final on a second or subsequent examination or consideration.
1353. Financial Affidavit Form (CJA Form 23) A form containing questions about the assets, obligations, and debts of defendants applying for court services under the CJA.
1354. Finding Formal conclusion by a judge or regulatory agency on issues of fact. Also, a conclusion by a jury regarding a fact.
1355. Fine The monetary penalty assessed against a defendant.
1356. Finis The end or conclusion.
1357. FIPS Federal Information Processing Standards issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology after approval by the Secretary of Commerce pursuant…
1358. Fire Debris a general term used to define the debris from a fire that is collected as evidence for laboratory examination.
1359. firearms / toolmarks identification The basic principle of firearms examination is based on the fact that most machined parts will have unique marks, which can be transfered to other…
1360. Firearms and Toolmarks Section a discipline responsible for the comparison of firearms, casings, projectiles and other evidence that may be associated through toolmarks.
1361. Firewall A set of related programs that protect the resources of a private network from users from other networks.
1362. First Action The first examination on the merits of the claims.
1363. First to File A system in which the first person to file a patent application on a patentable invention will be awarded a patent.
1364. First to Invent A system in which the first person to invent an invention will be awarded a patent. This system is used in the U.S. and in the Philippines. MPEP 2138.01.
1365. Fiscal Un fiscal estatal (district attorney), procurador general del Estado (attorney general), los fiscales auxiliares o cualquier otro uncionario público que…
1366. fiscal year The fiscal year is the accounting period for the federal government which begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.
1367. FISMA Federal Information Security Management Act
1368. Fixed visitation a form of visitation in which the court orders fixed dates, times, and duration of visitation for the non-custodial parent.
1369. Flatbed Scanner A flat-surface scanner that allows users to input books and other documents.
1370. Floor Action "on the floor" is that which occurs as part of a formal session of the full Senate.
1371. floor amendment An amendment offered by an individual Senator from the floor during consideration of a bill or other measure, in contrast to a committee amendment.
1372. floor leaders The Majority Leader and Minority Leader are elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Senate spokesmen for their parties and to…
1373. floor manager Senators designated to lead and organize consideration of a bill or other measure on the floor.
1374. Floppy A thin magnetic film disk that is used as an older method for storing data.
1375. Floppy Disc An increasingly rare storage medium consisting of a thin magnetic film disk housed in a protective sleeve.
1376. FMFIA Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act
1377. FOIA Freedom of Information Act -- see Electronic Freedom of Information Act for more
1378. folder See Directory.
1379. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (FDA) Federal agency within HHS responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of drugs, biologics, vaccines, and medical devices used (among others) in…
1380. Foreclosure A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default.
1381. Foreign Filing Date The date a non-U.S. patent application was filed that establishes priority of invention. MPEP 201.13.
1382. Forensic the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems.
1383. Forensic biology the application of biology to law enforcement.
1384. Forensic Computer Expert A litigation expert and consultant in the field of computer forensics. The steps taken by a forensics expert can include: 1) protecting a subject computer…
1385. Forensic Copy A precise bit-by-bit copy of a computer system's hard drive, including slack and unallocated space.
1386. Forensic Pathology a branch of pathology concerned with determining the cause of death by examination of a corpse.
1387. Forensic science the process of using science to resolve legal issues.
1388. Forensic Toxicology a discipline of forensic science concerned with the study of toxic substances or poisons, of which there are many thousands.
1389. Forensically Sound Procedures Procedures used for acquiring electronic information in a manner that ensures it is 'as originally discovered' and is reliable enough to be admitted into…
1390. Forensics Computer forensics is the scientific examination and analysis of data held on, or retrieved from, computer storage media in such a way that the…
1391. Forfeited Application An allowed patent application on which the issue fee or a maintenance fee has not been paid within the proscribed period.
1392. Forfeiture The loss of money, property, rights, or privileges due to a breach of a legal obligation.
1393. Form of Production The manner in which requested documents are produced. Used to refer both to file format (native vs.
1394. Format The internal structure of a file, which defines the way it is stored and used. Specific applications may define unique formats for their data (i.e.
1395. Format (verb) Makes a drive ready for first use. Erroneously thought to wipe drive. Typically, only overwrites FAT, but not files on the drive.
1396. forms Forms are provided as either official or unofficial (optional) formats to facilitate providing all information required to initiate desired procedures or…
1397. Forms Processing A specialized imaging application designed for handling pre-printed forms. Forms processing systems often use high-end (or multiple) OCR engines and…
1398. FQA Fastener Quality Act
1399. FR Federal Register -- see News & Notices for links
1400. Fragmented In the course of normal computer operations when files are saved, deleted or moved, the files or parts thereof may be broken into pieces, or fragmented…