Element: A component of a patent claim.
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Effective Filing Date: A date used to determine patentability based on the earliest application that adequately describes the invention, which may include a chain of patents and patent applications such as provisional patent applications.
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e-Commerce: Electronic commerce, the buying and selling of goods or services over the Internet.
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E-Commerce Agreements: Agreements relating to e-commerce such as privacy policies, website agreements, and terms of use. For more information, see our E-Commerce Agreements page.
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Drawing: A depiction of the trademark you want to register or an aspect or embodiment of an invention (patent) included in an application.
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Double Patenting: A patent law concept where patent protection is sought for the same invention in more than one patent application.
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Domestic Representative: An individual or entity appointed to represent a foreign applicant or registrant in trademark matters before a national trademark office.
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Domain Theft: Theft of a domain name registration, often through fraudulent access to the account holder for the registration. For more information, see our Domain Name Theft page.
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Domain Name Indemnification & Indemnity Agreements: Agreements that provide indemnification in transactions involving domain names. For more information, see our Domain Name Indemnification & Indemnity Agreements page.
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Domain Name Acquisition: The process to obtain a domain name registration. For more information, see our Domain Name Acquisition page.
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Domain Litigation: Litigation over the rights associated with a domain name like ownership, infringement of a registered trademark, and domain name squatting. For more information, see our Domain Name Litigation page.
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Doctrine of Equivalents: A patent law doctrine that extends patent protection beyond literal infringement where the accused instrument contains elements or features that are substantially equivalent to those described in the patent claims.
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Docket: A list of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and domain names along with deadlines associated with the various docket entries.
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DMCA Compliance: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) amendment to the U.S. Copyright Act requires certain compliance measure for entities wishing to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions. For more information, see our DMCA Compliance page.
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Divisional Patent Application: A type of patent application that is divided into a subset of claims from a parent application and shares the same priority date as the parent patent application.
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Disclosure: A patent application as filed must contain a full and clear disclosure of the invention as required by 35 USC ยง112(a).
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Disclaimer: Giving up legal rights, often in the case of patent and trademark prosecution.
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Director and Officer Liability Representation: Often in commercial and business litigation, separate counsel is required to represent involved officers and directors due to conflicts issues. For more information, see our Director and Officer Liability Representation page.
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Design Patent: A patent that protects the ornamental design, configuration, or shape of an invention for a period of 15 years. Design patents do not require maintenance fees and are limited to the ornamental as opposed to functional inventions.
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Design Patent Application: An application for a patent that protects the ornamental aspect of an invention, rather than its functional aspects.
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