A consisting essentially of means that the claimed invention may include unrecited elements and limitations, if they do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed combination. Each of these 3 deadlines may be extended by 6 months, but only with the payment of a surcharge. To avoid abandonment, a regular patent application must be filed before the first anniversary of the provisional application filing date, and that regular application must be base upon the same detailed description of the invention provided in the provisional application. The above fees are essentially doubled for applicants not qualifying for small entity status discount given to an independent inventor or a business employing less than 500 persons, without any obligation to transfer the invention to anyone disqualified from claiming small entity status. However, the employer owns such an invention if the employee is bound by an enforceable written or verbal contract to that affect.
Ownership conveys standing to transfer patent rights, or to sue or be sued.
Use rights . The employer has a non-exclusive right to use the invention, but may not transfer that right to another company. Sale by Assignment . A loan or other obligation may be secured by a security interest in a patent. Attorneys' fees in exceptional cases such as willful infringement.