Law — page 24 of 35

Law terms

2301. 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
2302. patent infringement unauthorized making, using, offering to sell, selling or importing into the United States any patented invention -- see 35 USC § 271(a)
2303. Patent Marking The marking of a patent-pending item "Patent Pending" or marking a patented item with one or more of the patent numbers.
2304. Patent Misuse See Misuse.
2305. 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…
2306. Patent Owner The owner of patent property rights.
2307. 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…
2308. 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…
2309. Patent Term The period during which a patent is valid.
2310. Patent Watch The process of continuously monitoring newly published patent applications and issued patents in a particular field.
2311. Patentability The issue of whether an invention is capable of being patented in a particular jurisdiction.
2312. patentability search A search of existing patents and, perhaps, other publications to determine if the invention is novel and non obvious and thus patentable.
2313. Patentable suitable to be patented; entitled by law to be protected by the issuance of a patent.
2314. Patentable Subject Matter An invention that is capable of bing patented.
2315. patentee the person to whom a patent was issued.
2316. Patentschrift A granted German patent application.
2317. Paternity the determination of who the father of a child is in order to arrange child custody and child support in the event of a divorce.
2318. path The hierarchical description of where a directory, folder, or file is located on a computer or network.
2319. Pattern Matching A generic term that describes any process that compares one files content with another files content.
2320. Pattern Recognition Technology that searches data for like patterns and flags, and extracts the pertinent data, usually utilizing an algorithm.
2321. payor number -- see customer number
2322. PBG Patent Business Goals
2323. PBG Final Rule Patent Business Goals Final Rule - implement streamlined patent practice; a result of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999
2324. PBX Private Branch Exchange - a telephony term describing a private telephone network used within an enterprise.
2325. PC Personal computer.
2326. PCI Peripheral Component Interface (Interconnect). A high-speed interconnect local bus used to support multimedia devices.
2327. PCMCIA Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. Plug-in cards for computers (usually portables), which extend the storage and/or functionality.
2328. PCT Patent Cooperation Treaty (more) provides a mechanism by which an applicant can file a single application that, when certain requirements have been…
2329. 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…
2330. PCT Regulations provide rules concerning matters expressly refers to in the Patent Cooperation Treaty, any administrative requirements, matters, or procedures, and…
2331. PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld device that provides any of the following features: computing, telephone, fax, Internet or networking.
2332. PDF Portable Document Format - a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing…
2333. PDF (Portable Document Format) A proprietary format of Adobe Corporation, it has become a de facto standard for transmitting documents that the sender does not want to be altered and…
2334. PDF Conversions The process of taking files in another file format and converting them to PDF.
2335. PDF/A The International Standards Organization (ISO) specification of PDF for the long-term preservation of archived documents.
2336. PEAI Patent Enterprise Access Integration
2337. peer an individual having expertise in a specific functional area or discipline gained through documented training and experience.
2338. Pendens Pending.
2339. Pendente lite Pending the litigation; while the suit continues.
2340. Pending The status of a patent application that occurs before either an application is abandoned (withdrawn) or a patent issues.
2341. Pending Patent Application A patent application that is pending. See Pending.
2342. Per annum Annually; by the year.
2343. Per capita Per capita is the legal term for one of the ways that assets being transferred by your will can be distributed to the beneficiaries of your estate.
2344. Per contra On the contrary.
2345. Per curiam By the court; by the court as a whole.
2346. Per diem Per diem is generally understood to include the consideration for the additional expenses that a worker has living away from home.
2347. Per se Considered by itself; taken alone.
2348. Per se doctrine Under this doctrine, an activity such as price fixing can be declared as a violation of the antitrust laws without necessity of a court inquiring into the…
2349. Per stirpes Per stirpes is the legal term for transferring the assets of your estate to your children and their descendants.
2350. Per viam By way of.
2351. Peremptory challenge Request by a party that a judge not allow a certain prospective juror as a member of the jury. No reason or cause need be stated. See challenge for cause.
2352. Performance Audits the review of laboratory administration, management, sections and/or analysts for compliance with policies, procedures, and operational effectiveness…
2353. Periodical A publication which appears regularly but less often than daily.
2354. Perjure To knowingly and willfully give false testimony under oath.
2355. Perjury The criminal offense of making a false statement under oath.
2356. Permanent alimony a type of alimony that is paid in regular intervals. Permanent alimony may change or be terminated upon the remarriage of the spouse receiving alimony…
2357. permanent appropriation Budget authority that becomes available as the result of previously enacted legislation (substantive legislation or prior appropriations act) and does not…
2358. Permanent injunction A court order requiring that some action be taken, or that some party refrain from taking action on a permanent basis.
2359. Person See Persons
2360. Person in need of supervision (PINS) Juvenile found to have committed a "status offense" rather than a crime that would provide a basis for a finding of delinquency.
2361. 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.
2362. Persona A person.
2363. Personal Computer (PC) Computer based on a microprocessor and designed to be used by one person at a time
2364. Personal Computers Personal Computers (PCs) are relatively inexpensive computers designed for an individual user.
2365. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Handheld digital organizers.
2366. Personal property All tangible property (other than land) that is either temporary or movable in some way, such as furniture, jewelry, electronics, etc.
2367. Personal recognizance In criminal proceedings, the pretrial release of a defendant without bail upon his or her promise to return to court. See recognizance.
2368. Personal representative The person who administers an estate. If named in a will, that person's title is an executor.
2369. Petabyte (PB) A petabyte is a measure of computer data storage capacity and is one thousand million million (1,000,000,000,000,000) bytes. See Byte.
2370. Petición, moción Una solicitud por palabra o por escrito pidiendo reparación o protección judicial específica que es hecha al juez por una de las partes.
2371. petit jury (or trial jury) A group of citizens who hear the evidence presented by both sides at trial and determine the facts in dispute.
2372. 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…
2373. 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).
2374. petition preparer A business not authorized to practice law that prepares bankruptcy petitions.
2375. Petition to Revive A petition that a patent application be revived from either unintentional or unavoidable abandonment. MPEP 711.03(c).
2376. petition to revive an application (trademark matters) a formal request for the USPTO to return an abandoned application to active status.
2377. Petitioner The person filing a certain type of action in a court of original jurisdiction. Also, the person who appeals the judgment of a lower court. See respondent.
2378. PetitionforCertiorari A petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision of a lower court.
2379. petitions (patent matters) -- see MPEP 711.03 and Petitions Practice within the USPTO on Patent Matters for information
2380. petty offense A federal misdemeanor punishable by six months or less in prison.
2381. PG Pub Pre-Grant Publication of patent application at 18 months from priority date
2382. Phase Change A method of storing information on rewritable optical discs.
2383. Physical custody a form of child custody that grants one parent the right to live with the child.
2384. Physical Ddisc An actual piece of computer media, such as the hard disc or drive, floppy discs, CDROM discs, Zip discs, etc.
2385. Physical evidence During discovery, the defendant is entitled to inspect and copy certain physical evidence in the possession of the government.
2386. Physical File Space When a file is created on a computer, a sufficient number of clusters (physical file space) are assigned to contain the file.
2387. PICA One sixth (1/6) of an inch. Used to measure graphics/fonts. There are 12 points per pica; 6 picas per inch; 72 points per inch.
2388. Picture Element The smallest addressable unit on a display screen. The higher the resolution (the more rows of columns), the more information can be displayed.
2389. Ping Ping is a computer network tool used to test whether a particular host is reachable across an IP network.
2390. Pioneer Invention An invention that breaks new ground in a technological art or that creates a new art.
2391. Pioneer Patent A patent on an invention that breaks new ground in a technological art or that creates a new art.
2392. Pitch Characters (or dots) per inch, measured horizontally.
2393. PKI Public Key Infrastructure - a system of administrative procedures and methods, combined with secure information technologies, that is used to manage…
2394. PKI Digital Signature A document or file may be digitally signed using a partys private signature key, creating a digital signature that is stored with the document.
2395. Plain Text The least formatted and therefore most portable form of text for computerized documents.
2396. Plaintext The least formatted and therefore most portable form of text for computerized documents.
2397. plaintiff A person or business that files a formal complaint with the court.
2398. Plaintiff/Complainant The party (a person, a partnership, or a corporation) that started the lawsuit by filing and serving the Complaint, Petition, or Affidavit.
2399. Plan A benefit your employer, union or other group sponsor provides to you to pay for your health care services.
2400. plan of reorganization Sets out how a debtor in Chapter 11 reorganization proposes to repay its creditors.