An encyclopedia of invention

Glossary & Who's Who.

134 patent terms in plain English — plus the people, offices and institutions you'll meet on the way.

iInvent Patent Glossary and Who's Who — 60 terms and 15 key organisations and roles in the patent world. All content is free to read, cite, and use under CC-BY 4.0.

Glossary (60 terms)

A

Abandonment: A patent application is abandoned when the applicant fails to respond to office actions or pay required fees within statutory deadlines, ending its prosecution.
Abstract: A short summary of an invention — usually 150 words or fewer — that appears at the start of a patent specification to give examiners and readers an overview.
Allowance: The point at which a patent examiner indicates that one or more claims are deemed allowable. The applicant then pays the issue fee for grant. See also: Issue Fee, Office Action.
Anticipation: A finding that every element of a claimed invention is already disclosed in a single piece of prior art. Anticipated claims are not novel and cannot be patented. See also: Novelty, Prior Art.
Applicant: The person or entity that files and prosecutes a patent application. May or may not be the same as the inventor.
Assignment: The legal transfer of patent rights from one party to another. Must usually be recorded with the relevant patent office to be enforceable. See also: Assignee, Licensing.
Assignee: The party to which patent rights are assigned. Most commonly an employer or a company taking ownership from the original inventor.

B

Background: A section of a patent specification describing the state of the art and the technical problem the invention solves.
Best Mode: Historically a US-only requirement to disclose the best way the inventor knew of practising the invention; the AIA reduced its enforceability post-2011.

C

Cease and Desist: A formal letter demanding that a party stop allegedly infringing activity. Often the first step before filing infringement litigation. See also: Infringement.
Claim: A numbered statement at the end of a patent specification that defines the legal scope of protection. Claims, not the description, are what is enforced. See also: Independent Claim, Dependent Claim.
Continuation: A new application that claims priority to an earlier-filed parent and shares the same disclosure. Used to pursue different claim scopes from the same invention.
Continuation-in-Part: A continuation that adds new subject matter beyond what the parent application disclosed. New matter only gets the new filing date.
CPC: Cooperative Patent Classification — the joint EPO/USPTO classification system used to organise patent documents by technology area.

D

Dependent Claim: A claim that incorporates and further limits the subject matter of another claim. Always narrower than the claim it depends on.
Design Patent: A patent protecting the ornamental appearance of a product rather than its function. Term in the US: 15 years from grant.
Divisional Application: A new application carved out of a parent that contained more than one invention. Each divisional is examined separately.

E

Embodiment: A specific implementation of an invention described in the specification. A patent typically describes multiple embodiments to support broad claim scope.
Enablement: The requirement that a patent's specification teach a person skilled in the art how to make and use the claimed invention without undue experimentation.
EPO: European Patent Office — grants European patents under the European Patent Convention. A granted EP patent must be validated in each member state. See also: Validation.
Examiner: A patent office employee, typically with a technical degree, who reviews patent applications for compliance with patentability requirements.

F

Filing Date: The date the patent office receives an application that meets minimum filing requirements. The starting point for most patent timelines.
First-to-File: A priority rule, used in nearly every jurisdiction including the US since 2013, that grants the patent to the first applicant to file rather than the first to invent.
Freedom to Operate: An analysis confirming that practising an invention in a given market would not infringe any third party's existing patent rights. Sometimes abbreviated FTO.

G

Grace Period: A limited window (e.g. 12 months in the US) during which an inventor's own public disclosure does not destroy novelty. Most jurisdictions, including the EU, China and the GCC, have no grace period. See also: Novelty, First-to-File.
Grant: The formal issuance of an enforceable patent by the patent office, after the applicant pays the issue fee following allowance.

H

Hague Agreement: An international treaty allowing a single design application to seek protection in multiple member states through WIPO.

I

Independent Claim: A claim that stands on its own and does not refer to any other claim. Defines the broadest scope of protection in a claim set.
Infringement: Unauthorised making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing of a patented invention within the patent's territory and term. See also: Cease and Desist.
Inventorship: The legal determination of who actually conceived the claimed invention. Incorrect inventorship can render a patent unenforceable.
IPC: International Patent Classification — the WIPO classification system used worldwide to categorise patent documents by technology.
Issue Fee: A fee paid to the patent office after allowance to bring the patent to grant. Failure to pay results in abandonment of the allowed application.

J

Joint Inventor: One of two or more inventors who jointly conceived the claimed subject matter. Each joint inventor has independent rights to license unless agreed otherwise. See also: Co-Inventor Agreement.

L

Lapse: Loss of patent rights through non-payment of maintenance or annuity fees. Different from abandonment, which happens before grant. See also: Maintenance Fee.
Licensing: A contractual grant by the patent owner permitting another party to practise the patented invention, usually in exchange for royalties. See also: Assignment.

M

Madrid System: A WIPO-administered system that lets a trademark applicant file a single international application covering multiple member countries.
Maintenance Fee: A fee paid to the patent office at intervals after grant to keep the patent in force. In the US: at 3.5, 7.5 and 11.5 years from grant.

N

NDA: Non-Disclosure Agreement — a contract obligating the recipient to keep disclosed information confidential. Essential before sharing inventions with third parties. See also: NNN Agreement.
NNN Agreement: Non-Use, Non-Disclosure, Non-Circumvention agreement — a stronger contract used in China that adds non-use and non-circumvention obligations beyond a standard NDA.
Non-Provisional: A standard utility patent application that, unlike a provisional, is examined on its merits and can mature into a granted patent.
Novelty: The requirement that a claimed invention not be disclosed in any single piece of prior art before the filing or priority date. Without novelty, no patent. See also: Anticipation, Prior Art.

O

Obviousness: A patentability requirement that the invention not be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art at the time of filing. Sometimes called inventive step.
Office Action: A written communication from a patent examiner raising objections or rejections. The applicant must respond within a deadline or risk abandonment. See also: Allowance.

P

Patent: A government-granted exclusive right to make, use, sell and import an invention for a limited term — usually 20 years from filing for utility patents.
Patent Pending: A status that begins on the application's filing date and ends at grant or abandonment. Confers no enforceable rights, only notice.
Patentability: The set of requirements an invention must meet to qualify for a patent: subject matter eligibility, novelty, non-obviousness, utility and adequate disclosure.
PCT: Patent Cooperation Treaty — a unified system for filing a single international application that delays the decision on which countries to enter for up to 30 months. See also: WIPO.
PPH: Patent Prosecution Highway — bilateral agreements between patent offices that let an applicant accelerate examination in a second office once the first has allowed claims.
Prior Art: Any evidence — patents, publications, products, public uses — that an invention was already known before the application's filing or priority date. See also: Novelty, Anticipation.
Prosecution: The back-and-forth between applicant and examiner from filing to grant or final abandonment. Encompasses office actions, responses, interviews and amendments.
Provisional: A US-only first filing that secures a priority date for 12 months without formal claims or examination. Must be followed by a non-provisional within the year. See also: Non-Provisional, Filing Date.

R

Reduction to Practice: Either the actual building and testing of an invention (actual) or the filing of an enabling patent application (constructive). Historically central to first-to-invent disputes.

S

Specification: The narrative portion of a patent application describing the invention in enough detail to enable a skilled person to make and use it. See also: Enablement.

T

Trade Secret: Confidential business information that derives value from not being known. Protected indefinitely as long as secrecy is maintained — but not against reverse engineering or independent invention. See also: NDA.
Trademark: A sign, name or logo that distinguishes the goods or services of one party from another. A separate IP right from patents.

U

Unity of Invention: A requirement, particularly in the EPO and PCT, that an application contain a single inventive concept. Multi-invention applications may be split via divisionals. See also: Divisional Application.
Utility: The requirement that an invention have a specific, substantial and credible use. Most inventions easily meet this; some pharmaceutical and biotech claims do not.
Utility Model: A second-tier patent right available in many jurisdictions (Germany, China, Japan, etc.) with shorter term, lower bar for inventive step and faster grant. See also: Patent.

V

Validity: The legal status of an issued patent. Even granted patents can be invalidated by a court or post-grant review on grounds such as anticipation or obviousness.

W

WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organization — the UN agency that administers the PCT, the Madrid System, the Hague Agreement and other international IP treaties.

Who's Who (15 entries)

A

Applicant (The person or entity filing the application) [Patent process]: The party that submits the application and is responsible for paying fees and responding to the examiner. May be the inventor, the inventor's employer, or an assignee.
Assignee (The owner of record) [Patent process]: The party to whom patent rights have been assigned. Usually a company. Recorded at the patent office to make the assignment enforceable.
ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization) [Regional office]: A regional patent office covering 22 mostly English-speaking African states. A single ARIPO application can be valid across multiple member countries.

C

CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration) [National office]: China's national IP authority, formerly known as SIPO. Administers patents, utility models, trademarks and design rights for the world's largest patent market by volume.

E

EPO (European Patent Office) [Regional office]: Grants European patents under the European Patent Convention. Successful EP patents must then be validated in each desired member state.

I

Inventor (The person who conceived the invention) [Patent process]: The natural person or persons whose contribution to the conception of an invention rises to the level of inventorship. Cannot be a corporation, AI system, or institution.

J

JPO (Japan Patent Office) [National office]: Japan's national IP authority, known for high-quality examination and a three-year examination request window after filing.

K

KIPO (Korean Intellectual Property Office) [National office]: South Korea's national IP authority. Operates one of the most efficient examination systems globally, with strong emphasis on accelerated procedures.

O

OAPI (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle) [Regional office]: A regional patent office covering 17 mostly French-speaking African states. Unlike ARIPO, OAPI grants a single regional title valid across all member states.

P

Patent Agent (Registered, but not a lawyer) [Practitioner]: A non-lawyer registered with a patent office (e.g. USPTO) who is qualified to draft and prosecute patent applications but cannot litigate or give general legal advice.
Patent Attorney (Registered lawyer) [Practitioner]: A licensed lawyer also registered to practise before a patent office. Authorised to prosecute patent applications, give legal advice and represent clients in IP disputes.
Patent Examiner (The reviewer at the patent office) [Patent office]: A patent office employee, typically with a technical degree, responsible for reviewing applications against patentability requirements and issuing office actions.
PCT Receiving Office (Where you file the international application) [Patent process]: The office that initially receives a PCT application — usually the applicant's national IP office or the WIPO International Bureau directly.

U

USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) [National office]: The US federal agency responsible for granting patents and registering trademarks. The world's most-cited patent office for prior-art purposes.

W

WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) [International body]: The UN agency that administers global IP treaties including the PCT, the Madrid System (trademarks) and the Hague Agreement (designs). Headquartered in Geneva.