- Filing date: the date of receipt in the Office of an application which includes (1) a specification containing a description and, if the application is a nonprovisional application, at least one claim, and (2) any required drawings.
- 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 patent application. Applicant's reply under 37 CFR 1.113 to a final rejection is limited either to an appeal in the case of rejection of any claim to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (37 CFR 1.191) or to an amendment complying with the requirements set forth in the Office action (37 CFR 1.114 or 1.116). Reply to a final rejection must comply with 37 CFR 1.114 or include cancellation of, or appeal from the rejection of, each rejected claim. If any claim stands allowed, the reply to a final rejection must comply with any requirements or objections as to form (37 CFR 1.113(c)).
- FY (fiscal year): The federal fiscal year extends from October 1 through September 30.
- Independent claim: A claim that does not refer back to or depend on another claim.
- Infringement (patent): Unauthorized making, using, offering to sell, selling or importing into the United States any patented invention.
- Inventor: One who contributes to the conception of an invention. The patent law of the United States of America requires that the applicant in a patent application must be the inventor.
- IP: Intellectual property.
IPC: International Patent Classification.*
- Issue date: The date that a patent application becomes a U.S. patent. The issue date is the date that patent rights can be exercised. U.S. patents are always issued on Tuesdays.
MPEP: Manual of Patent Examining Procedure.
- National stage application: An application which has entered the national phase of the Patent Cooperation Treaty by the fulfillment of certain requirements in a national Office, which is an authority entrusted with the granting of national or regional patents. Such an application is filed under 35 U.S.C. §371 in the United States and is referred to as a "371 application."
- Non-final Office action: An Office action letter that raises new issues and usually is the first phase of the examination process. An examining attorney will issue a non-final Office action after reviewing the application for the first time. If a new issue arises after the applicant responds to the first non-final Office action, the examining attorney will issue another non-final Office action that sets forth the new issue(s) and continues any that remain outstanding. Applicants must respond to non-final Office action letters within 6 months from the date they are issued to avoid abandonment of the application.
- Nonprovisional patent application: An application for patent filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) that includes all patent applications (i.e., utility, design, plant, and reissue) except provisional applications. The nonprovisional application establishes the filing date and initiates the examination process. A nonprovisional utility patent application must include a specification including a claim or claims; drawings, when necessary; an oath or declaration; and the prescribed filing fee.
- Notice of abandonment: A written notification from the USPTO that an application has been declared abandoned or, in other words, is no longer pending. If the application was abandoned unintentionally or due to Office error, the applicant has a deadline of two months from the issue date of the notice of abandonment to file either (1) a petition to revive the application or (2) a request to reinstate the application.
- Notice of allowability: A notification to the patent applicant that the application has been placed in condition for allowance.