Have you seen a search report or patent document and not sure about the meaning of some terms?

If so, we would be very grateful if you could take the time to comment on below Patent Glossary.

Our aim is to collect as many patent-related technical terms as possible, provide explanations and keep improving them.

Please also help us, by your comments, to develop other language versions or links to valuable resources in French, Russian and Spanish.

Abstract 

The part of the patent application that consists of a concise summary of the disclosure as contained in the description, the claims and any drawings. It provides technical information only and cannot be taken into account for determining the scope of protection sought.

Applicant

Any person or company that files an application for patent rights. In most countries the inventor does not necessarily have to be the applicant. In the United States, applicants must be the inventor(s).

Application for a patent

To obtain a patent, an application must be filed with the patent office with all the necessary documents and fees. The patent office will conduct an examination to decide whether to grant or reject the application.

Assignee

The person or corporate body to whom all or limited rights under a patent are legally transferred - transfer of all or limited rights under a patent.

Citations

Citations may be made by the examiner or author. A list of references that are believed to be relevant prior art and which may have contributed to the "narrowing" of the original application. The examiner can also cite references from technical journals, textbooks, handbooks and sources.

Claims

The claims define the matter for which protection is sought. They must be clear and concise and fully supported by the description.

Claim consists of a specification and one or more claims. Each claim defines a claimed invention by its periphery. A valid claim is one which reads on the invention described in the specification but does not read on any prior art.

Country of origin

The country of residence of the first-named applicant or assignee of a patent application.  This is used to determine the origin of the patent application.

Description

A mandatory part of the patent application which discloses the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the invention to be carried out by a person skilled in the art.

Design Patent / Industrial Design

A type of patent covering the shape characteristics of an object.

Designated countries

Countries in which patent applicants wish to protect their invention. This concept is specific to European patent applications and international patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Disclosure

The first public disclosure of details of an invention. This may be deliberately revealed outside the patent system to make the invention non patentable, or what is described in a patent application. In return for a patent (monopoly rights for a limited time period), the applicant must make a full disclosure of the invention for which protection is sought.

Drawing

The part of an application which illustrates the invention and which is required when it is necessary for the understanding of the invention. Drawings (or illustrations) are more commonly found with inventions for mechanical or electrical devices. As a rule, chemical patents and biotechnology patents will include chemical formulae drawings or genetic code in the description of the invention and/or in the examples.

Examiner

A patent office official who is appointed to determine the patentability of applications.

Expiry Date

The date when a patent has run its full term in a country and is no longer protected there.

Filing Date

The date when the application reaches the patent office in complete form.

First to File

The patent is awarded to the first person to file an application on that invention independent of who was the first to invent. The applicant who is the first to file an application will be awarded the patent over all others. This is the present law in all countries other than the USA and the Philippines.

First to Invent

In the USA and the Philippines, the patent is awarded to the first person to make an invention independent of who first files an application for that invention.

Grant date

The date on which the patent office grated patent rights.

Industrial applicability

One of the criteria of patentability also referred to as "utility". A claimed invention is considered industrially applicable if it can be made or used in any kind of industry, understood in its broadest sense.

Infringement

Unauthorised use of a patented invention.

To make, use or sell the patented item or process within the country covered by the patent without permission or license from the patentee. 

Inventive step

One of the criteria of patentability also called non-obviousness. A claimed invention shall be considered to involve an inventive step (to be non-obvious) if, having regard to the prior art, it is not, at the prescribed relevant date, obvious to a person skilled in the art.

International Patent Classification (IPC)

The IPC is an internationally recognized patent classification system, which provides a common classification for patents according to technology groups. The IPC is a hierarchical system in which the whole area of technology is divided into a range of sections, classes, subclasses and groups. There are eight sections that are broken down into classes and subclasses. IPC is periodically revised in order to improve the system and to take account of technical development.

Lapse

The date when a patent is no longer valid in a country or system due to failure to pay renewal/maintenance fees. Often the patent can be reinstated within a limited period.

License

The owner of a patent gives permission to another person to legitimately manufacture, use or sell an invention protected by a patent. In return, the patent owner will usually receive royalty payments. A license, which can be exclusive or non-exclusive, does not transfer the ownership of the invention to the licensee.

Maintenance

The process by which patent protection is kept in force. Usually by paying maintenance (renewal) fees to the patent office. If renewal fees are not paid, patent protection may lapse.

Novelty

One of the criteria of patentability. A claimed invention is considered novel if it is not, at the prescribed relevant date, anticipated by the prior art - the invention must never have been made public in any way, anywhere, before the date on which the application for a patent is filed.

Obviousness

The concept that the claims defining an invention in a patent application must involve an inventive step if, when compared with what is already known (i.e. prior art), it would not be obvious to someone skilled in the art.

Opposition

The time period allowed for an interested party to post oppositions to the grant of a patent. For example, this may be up to nine months from the date of grant of a European patent.

Patent application

The procedure for requesting patent protection at a patent office. To obtain patent rights, the applocant must provide the patent office with all relevant documents and fees. The patent office examines the application and decides whether to grant or reject the application.

Patent

A document issued by the patent office that gives an inventor the exclusive right to make use and sell an invention as specified in the claims of that patent.

Patentability

The ability of an invention to satisfy the legal requirements for obtaining a patent, including novelty. In some countries certain types of inventions, e.g. computer software and plants, may be non patentable.

Patent Family

A patent family is a set of inter-realted patent applications filed in one or more countries to protect the same invention.

Patent grant

Legal rights conferred on the applicant by a patent office for a limited period (normally up to 20 years).

Pending application

The period in which the patent office has not yet decided whether to reject or to grant a patent. 

 

Prior art

Everything which has been made available to the public before the relevant date anywhere in the world by means of written disclosure and which can be of assistance in determining whether the claimed invention is new and involves an inventive step (i.e. is not obvious). The process of prosecuting a patent or interpreting its claims largely consists of identifying relevant prior art and distinguishing the claimed invention from that prior art.

Priority Date

The initial date of filing of a patent application, normally in the applicant's domestic patent office. This date is used to help determine the novelty of an invention.

Priority document

A copy of the earlier application of which the priority is claimed, certified by the authority with which it was filed.

Publication date

The date on which the patent application is published by the patent office. Information about the patent application is normally disclosed to the public after the expiration of the 18 months from the priority date.  

Rejection

When a patent application is refused by a patent office.

Renewal Fees

Payments that must be made by the applicant to the patent office in order to keep the patent in force and prevent it from lapsing. In the USA, these are termed maintenance fees.

Research Disclosure

Defensive-type publications which are published, often anonymously, to give companies and inventors "freedom of use" rather than legal protection. Once research disclosures are published the invention described cannot be patented.

Revocation

Termination of the protection given to a patent on one or more grounds, e.g. lack of novelty.

Search Report

A list of published items (both patent and non-patent literature), issued by the patent examiners checking the novelty of the patent application, which are relevant to the subject of the invention.

Specification

That part of the patent which describes the invention in sufficient detail so that someone knowledgeable in the art could practice it. It is the main part of the patent. The term does not imply that the invention is necessarily new or was ever protected. This includes the description, drawings and claims of an invention prepared to support a patent application.

Status / Legal Status

The legal standing of a patent or patent application, i.e. whether it is pending, lapsed, still protected.

Substantive Examination

The full examination of a patent application's substance or content by a patent office examiner, to determine whether a patent should be granted.

Term of Patent

The maximum number of years that the monopoly rights conferred by the grant of a patent may last.  Usually 20 years.

Title of invention

A short, precise description of the invention, preferably from two to seven words when in English or translated into English. It should be included in the request and at the beginning of the description.

Utility Model

In some countries, a type of patent which is available involving a simpler inventive step and  less stringent examination requirements than that in a traditional patent. Such patents generally have a shorter life, but serve as an important alternative to patents in countries in which they are available. The terminology to used to describe an invention protected by utility models varies between countries.

Sources:

European Patent Office (www.epo.org)

Thomson Scientific terminology (scientific.thomson.com/support/patents/patinf/terms/)

World Intellectual Property Organization (www.wipo.int), PCT Glossary