Patent — page 5 of 5

Patent terms

401. 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…
402. Secondary Considerations Objective evidence of non-obviousness. MPEP 2141, MPEP 716.01(a).
403. 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…
404. 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…
405. service mark Not every business opportunity must be registered with the Department of Banking under the Connecticut Business Opportunity Investment Act.
406. SIR a published statutory invention registration contains the specification and drawings of a regularly filed nonprovisional application for a patent without…
407. skill in the art An ordinary level of proficiency in a particular technology in which an invention is made.
408. 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…
409. Special Status A status granted U.S. patent applications that have certain characteristics upon successful petition to the USPTO.
410. specification a written description of the invention and the manner and process of making and using the same -- see MPEP 608.01 for more
411. Status The legal standing of a patent appplication or patent. MPEP 102.
412. Statutory Bar A bar to patentability established by law. MPEP 2133.
413. Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) Registration of an invention with the USPTO to place an invention in the public domain.
414. 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.
415. Statutory Subject Matter Patentable subject matter. MPEP 2105.
416. Substantive Examination The examination of a patent application by a patent office to determine whether a patent should be granted on the claimed invention.
417. 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…
418. 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…
419. Surrender of Patent An act that occurs concurently with the filing of a reissue patent application in the USPTO. MPEP 1416.
420. 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…
421. teach To inform and instruct by way of the documents making up the prior art. The prior art references teach the technology disclosed in them or revealed by…
422. teach toward - teach away A prior-art reference that suggests or points in the direction of the present invention is said to teach toward the invention and is evidence that the…
423. Teaching Away The situation in which a prior art reference suggests that a claimed invention is not possible, e.g., would not work. MPEP 2145.
424. Technical Field The field of art to which the invention pertains. MPEP 608.01(c).
425. technology licensing The process by which patentable intellectual property is made marketable and is licensed or otherwise disposed for use by the pubic.
426. Technology Manager The person in a public-sector or private-sector organization who is responsible for managing the intellectual property of the organization.
427. Term of Patent The period during which a patent can be inforced. MPEP 2501.
428. terminal disclaimer also "TD": a statement filed by an owner under 35 USC § 253 (paragraph 2) and 37 CFR § 1.
429. that which infringes if later, anticipates if earlier A rule stating the equivalence between two tests under patent law (i.e., the test of infringement of a patent and the test of anticipation in the prior…
430. Title of Invention A brief but technically accurate name for the invention. MPEP 606.
431. Trade Name A name used to identify a business entity.
432. trade secret information that companies keep secret to give them an advantage over their competitors
433. trademark See service mark.
434. Traverse To dispute the decision of an Examiner. In proceedings before the USPTO, failing to traverse an Examiner's reliance on alleged "common knowledge" or…
435. Undue Experimentation An amount of experimentation required to practice a disclosed invention that would be unreasonable. MPEP 2164.01, MPEP 818.03(c).
436. Unenforceable A determonation by a court that a patent cannot be enforced against a party that would otherwise be infringing its claims, because the patent is defective.
437. United States Code The laws of the U.S.
438. United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) The agency of the U.S. Federal Government responsible for administering the country's patent system.
439. United States Patent and Trademark Office Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) The regulations promulgated by the USPTO.
440. university research All research conducted in the course of an inventor's employment with the University (including, but not limited to, the performance of a grant, contract…
441. Unobvious The state of a claimed invention's not being obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. Also called non-obvious.
442. unpatentable Descriptive of an invention not involving sufficient departure from what was known before in the art or that for some other reason is not the proper…
443. Unreasonable Experimentation See Undue Experimentation.
444. Useful Having some practical utility; fit for some desirable practical or commercial purpose. One of the three requirements for patentability under U.S. law.
445. USPTO United States Patent and Trademark Office, designation became effective April 3, 2000; a result of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999
446. Utility See Useful.
447. Utility Model A type of patent available in some countries that requires less inventiveness than necessary to obtain a patent.
448. Utility Patent may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new, useful, and nonobvious process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or…
449. Valid Sound and justified; meeting the test of patentability.
450. Validity The issue of whether a patent is valid. See Valid.
451. Verified Statement/Showing A verfied statement is one made with the stated knowledge that false statements and the like are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, and may…
452. willful infringement Conduct that constitutes an illegal use of another's patented invention where the infringer has no reasonable basis for believing that its actions are…
453. WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization an intergovernmental organization of the United Nations system.
454. Withdrawal A withdrawal is money you take out of your banking, brokerage firm, or other accounts.
455. work-for-hire When one is specifically hired to complete a task, such as write a discrete computer program, the resulting product is said to be a Work-for-Hire and thus…
456. Worked or Working The condition of having met a country's requirement that an invention be put to use in some way.
457. Written Description A description (disclosure) of an invention that is written in a patent application.