Patent Terms and Definitions

Abandon: The explicit or implicit relinquishment of a potential patent right. Simple inaction may render a patent right abandoned

Affidavit: A signed statement (filed with the patent office) putting appropriate facts or opinions on record.

Author: Writer of an article, chapter or other complete work. Some articles, proceedings, or books have multiple authors. In such cases, the first author specified in the reference may be called the primary author or the senior author. The names of the authors following that of the primary author are referred to as the secondary or co-authors. Corporations, government agencies and associations may also be listed as authors of a work.

Basic Patent: The first published patent

Beilstein: A major structure and factual database in organic chemistry.

C?: Clinical Unknown Phase from IDdb. In clinical development, but the phase is unknown.

C1: Phase I (IDdb). Initial toxicity testing in healthy volunteers (except for drugs that are potential treatments for life-threatening diseases such as cancer and HIV, which go straight into subjects suffering from the target disease).

C2: Phase II (IDdb). Small-scale testing in the target population, to assess therapeutic effects and to establish dose levels for phase III trials.

C3: Phase III (IDdb). Large-scale trials in patients, usually at several centers, double blind and randomized. May also be compared to other agents.

Citation: the examiner or author may make Citations. They comprise a list of references that are believed to be relevant prior art and which may have contributed to the "narrowing" of the original application. The examiner can also cite references from technical journals, textbooks, handbooks and sources.

Citation Counts: Citation counts are a formal acknowledgement of intellectual debt to earlier patents and previously published scientific research papers. They are an important indicator of how new patents are linked to earlier patents and scientific papers.

Claim(s): The definition of the monopoly rights that the applicant is trying to obtain for the invention. The claims become the actual monopoly that is given when/if the patent is granted.

Copyright: The legal right granted to an author, editor or publisher of an article, chapter or complete work. Copyright applies to intellectual property in a variety of artistic fields and attempts to be format-neutral.

Defensive publication: A publication and disclosure to the public of a pending patent application.

Design Patent: A type of patent covering the shape characteristics of an object

Disclosure: The first public disclosure of details of an invention. This may be: deliberately revealed outside the patent system to make the invention unpatentable, or what is described in a patent application

First to file: The applicant who is the first to file an application for an invention will be awarded the patent over all others. This law is becoming increasingly the standard for countries adhering to Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) guidelines.

First to invent: In some countries, the applicant who is the first to invent will be awarded the patent over all others.

Infringe: To make, use or sell the patented item or process within the country covered by the patent, without permission or license from the patentee.

Intellectual property: Intellectual property refers to creations — including inventions, artistic works, names and designs — that are legally protected. Intellectual property includes patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets

Inventor: Inventor names are recorded for all patents. These appear in the standard last name-initial(s) format.

Novel: A patent must be new or original. That is, the invention must never have been made in public in any way, anywhere, before the date on which the application for a patent is filed.

Novelty: The concept that the claims must be totally new. The invention must never have been made public in any way, anywhere, before the date on which the application for a patent is filed.

Patent: A patent is a document that defines the right by law for inventors and assignees to make use of and exploit their inventions for a limited period of time.

Pending: The period in which the patent office has not yet decided whether to reject or to grant a patent application, and it has not yet been withdrawn.

Status: The legal standing of a patent or patent application, i.e. whether it is pending, lapsed or still protected etc.

Term of patent: The maximum number of years that the monopoly rights conferred by the grant of a patent may last

Identification of Goods and Services Manual This manual lists numerous examples of identifications of goods and services that are acceptable to the USPTO for inclusion in trademark applications and registrations. Joint Inventor An inventor who is named with at least one other inventor in a patent application, wherein each inventor contributes to the conception of the invention set forth in at least one claim in a patent application. Joint Application An application in which the invention is presented as that of two or more persons. Application Number (patent) The unique number assigned to a patent application when it is filed. The application number includes a two digit series code and a six digit serial number. Withdrawn Patent An allowed application for patent in which the applicant files correspondence to withdraw the patent from issue; ;thus preventing it from issuing on the patent issue date. T DTD Document type definition - a format specification file that accompanies documents prepared according to SGML (standard generalized markup language), including XML (extensible markup language). Collective Mark A trademark or service mark used, or intended to be used, in commerce, by the members of a cooperative, an association, or other collective group or organization, including a mark that indicates membership in a union, an association, or other organization ABM Activity based management - a management methodology that combines ABC with business process analysis techniques to run, improve and measure performance for a business. 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. Deceased Inventor A named inventor who has died prior to the filing of a patent application or during the prosecution of a patent application.

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	Did You Know?
	You may apply for a patent for your invention. Inventors may apply for one of two types of patent applications: (1) A non-provisional application, which begins the examination process and may lead to a patent and (2) A provisional application, which establishes a filing date but does not begin the examination process.