A patent journey can be confusing and complex. This is why it is important to understand commonly used words early on. For experienced practitioners and examiners this is nothing new. But for a person new to the intellectual property world, understanding this language from the start can be a beneficial advantage. Want to know more? Keep reading.
- USPTO – United States Patent and Trademark Office is a federal agency in the Department of Commerce. USPTO is a trademark and patent authority that is responsible for granting US patents as well as registering trademarks.
- Prosecution – A process by which the patent is examined, with correspondence going back and forth between the examiner and the applicant and/or applicant’s attorney.
- Provisional – A provisional patent application is an informal application that is filed with the patent office and expires automatically in one year from its filing date. A provisional patent application acts as a placeholder and ensures a priority date for your non-provisional patent. Provisional application is not examined by the examiner unless a non-provisional is filed.
- Non-Provisional – A non-provisional patent application is a formal patent application which is intended to be examined by the examiner. The goal is to get your non-provisional patent application approved, so that it becomes an active patent.
- Prior Art – All the publicly disclosed and available knowledge and references, anywhere in the world, relating to the technology of the claimed invention in the patent application.
- Priority Date – The earliest filing date that a patent application can claim. When a patent relates to an earlier-filed application by the same inventor, it can claim priority to the earlier application. Since US is a first-to-file country, it is important to establish your priority date as soon as possible. Therefore, filing a provisional application can be a crucial step.
- Patent Term – A legal lifespan of a patent. It starts on the day the US application is officially filed and lasts 20 years. If you claim priority on an earlier US application, the patent term starts from the priority date.
- Office Action – Official communication from the USPTO requesting a certain action to be taken. Office Actions can be final and non-final. Non-Final Office Action is usually the first communication from the Examiner regarding the patent application. Final Office Action is typically Examiner’s communication after the Non-Final Office Action response. Usually, you have 3 months to respond to the Office Action, this time can be extended for a fee. Unless you file a Final Office Action response with the Request for Continuing Examination, your response will not be considered, and the application will be abandoned.
- Publication – Typically, 18 months from the earliest priority date, your patent application becomes public which means that it is now searchable and accessible through the USPTO database by everyone.
- Issue – When a patent application becomes a patent, it is called issuance. Before the patent is issued, you will receive a Notice of Allowance stating that your patent is allowed, what claims are allowed, and the fee you must pay in order for a patent to be issued. A few months after you pay the fee, your patent will be issued, and you will become an official patent owner.