definiens: means ( a ) a claim of an issued and unexpired patent, which claim has not been revoked or held unenforceable, unpatentable or invalid by a decision of a court or other governmenta l agency of competent jurisdiction and that has not been abandoned, disclaimed, denied or admitted to be invalid or unenforceable through reissue, re - examination or disclaimer or otherwise, or ( b ) a claim of a patent application that is being prosecuted i n good faith and has been pending less than [ * * ] from the date of filing of the earliest patent application from which such patent application claims priority, which claim has not been cancelled, withdrawn or abandoned or finally rejected by an administrat i ve agency action from which no appeal can be taken . For clarity, in the event that any pending claim of a patent application that does not meet the criteria under subpart ( b ) of this Section 1.45 subsequently becomes an issued claim that would qualify un der subpart ( a ) of this Section 1.45, such claim, once it issues, shall thereafter be considered a Valid Claim under this definition