Patentable Subject Matter: Categories of inventions that qualify for patent protection. Under the U.S. Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. Section 101, patentable subject matter includes processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter.
Read MorePatent: A legal grant issued by the. United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) conferring the exclusive right to make, use, offer for sale, sell, and import the invention covered by the patent.
Read MorePatent Troll: A pejorative term used for a person or company that uses patent infringement claims to shake down targets for settlement payments to avoid the expense of costly patent litigation.
Read MorePatent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB): An administrative law body of the USPTO that decides issues of patentability, including appeals from prior rejections by examiners and challenges to the validity of patents.
Read MorePatent Transactions & Licensing: Patent Transactions & Licensing involve assignments of patent or granting rights of a patent to a third party. For more information, see our Patent Transactions & Licensing page.
Read MorePatent Term Expiration: The end of the patent protection period after which the patent expires and enters the public domain.
Read MorePatent Registration Process: The process required to obtain an issued patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office beginning with an application, prosecution, and an issued patent. For more information, see our Patent Registration Process page.
Read MorePatent Reexamination: The process at the United States Patent and Trademark Office where an examiner reexamines an issued patent at the request of the patent owner or a third party. For more information, see our Patent Reexamination page.
Read MorePatent Protection: Patent protection is obtained through filing a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In most cases, utility patents have a lifespan of 20 years; design patents have a lifespan of 15 years. For more information, see our Patent Protection page.
Read MorePatent Prosecution Highway: A set of initiatives for providing accelerated patent prosecution procedures through sharing information between some patent offices.
Read MorePatent Portfolio Management: Management of two or more patents for potential assertion, development of additional patents, and payment of maintenance fees. For more information, see our Patent Portfolio Management page.
Read MorePatent Pending: A status indicating that a patent application has been filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), but a patent has not been issued yet.
Read MorePatent Office Action: A document written by a patent examiner setting forth the results of the review of a patent application.
Read MorePatent Number: A unique identifier assigned to a granted patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Read MorePatent Misuse: An affirmative defense used in a patent infringement lawsuit claiming that the patentee is attempting to extend the scope of the patent to derive an unjust advantage.
Read MorePatent Marking: Labeling products with the patent number to inform the public that the product is covered by a patent.
Read MorePatent Litigation: Litigation involving the assertion of patent rights, ownership of a patent, or a declaratory judgment to determine the validity or enforceability of a patent. For more information, see our Patent Litigation page.
Read MorePatent Infringement: The unauthorized use, manufacture, sale, or importation of a patented invention by a third party without the permission of the patent owner, constituting a violation of the patent holder's exclusive rights.
Read MorePatent Infringement Defense: Defenses to a patent infringement claim include invalidity, laches, and statute of limitation, and unenforceability. For more information, see our Patent Infringement Defense page.
Read MorePatent Indemnification Litigation & Indemnity Disputes: Patent Indemnification & Indemnity Disputes typically involve a conflict regarding whether one party owes indemnification or a right to defend to another party where a third-party claim has arisen For more information, see our Patent Indemnification Litigation & Indemnity Disputes page.
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