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| Terms: |
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CAFTA: Central American Free Trade Agreement is a
proposed agreement between the United States and five Central American
nations (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua). |
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Canceled Claim: A claim that is canceled or deleted.
"Canceled" is the status identifier that should be used when a claim is
canceled in an application. |
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CIP (Continuation-in-Part): An application filed
during the lifetime of an earlier nonprovisional application, repeating
some substantial portion or all of the earlier nonprovisional
application and adding matter not disclosed in the earlier
nonprovisional application. |
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Certificate of Mailing: A certificate for each piece
of correspondence mailed, prior to the expiration of the set period of
time for response, stating the date of deposit with the U.S. Postal
Service and including a signature. |
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Claims: Claims define the invention and are what are
legally enforceable. The specification must conclude with a claim
particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter
which the applicant regards as his invention or discovery. The claim or
claims must conform to the invention as set forth in the remainder of
the specification and the terms and phrases used in the claims must find
clear support or antecedent basis in the description so that the meaning
of the terms in the claims may be ascertainable by reference to the
description. (See § 1.58(a)). |
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Claim, Closed: The preamble of a claim using a phrase
such as "consisting of" and of this form of claim is considered to
positively and clearly include all the elements or steps recited therein
as a part of the claimed combination. |
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Claim, Dependent: A claim that refers back to and
further limits or restricts the breadth of another claim. The other
claim may be an independent claim or another dependent claim. |
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Claim, Generic: A claim that describes ("reads on") a
generic form of an invention. A generic claim generally reads on all the
claimed species of an invention. |
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Claim, Independent: A claim that does not reference
(depend from) another claim. |
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Claim, Jepson: A form of a claim with a preamble that
describes what is known in the art followed by a transitional phrase
such as "the improvement comprising" and then a description of the
claimed improvement. |
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Claim, Markush: A form of a claim that allows
claiming of members of a finite group by a claim that recites members as
being "selected from the group consisting of A, B and C." The members of
a Markush group must have at least one property that is akin to the
group. |
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Claim, Multiple Dependent: A claim that refers back
to and further limits another claim or claims and depends from more than
one other claim. The other claims may be referred to in the alternative
only. |
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Claim, Process: A claim that recites the steps of a
process. The process may be a method of making something, a process of
operating something or a process of using something. 35 U.S.C. 101. |
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Claim, Product: claim that recites the elements or
features of a product (i.e., a machine, an article of manufacture or a
composition of matter). A claim recites the physical form of an
invention. 35 U.S.C. 101. |
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Claim, Species: A claim that describes ("reads on") a
species of an invention. A generic claim generally reads on all the
claimed species of an invention. |
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Claim, Picture: A claim that describes every aspect
of an invention. |
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Classification: Patents are classified (organized) in
the U.S. by a system using a 3 digit class and a subclass to describe
every similar grouping of patent art. A single invention may be
described by multiple classification codes. |
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Co-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. |
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Commercialization: A process of creating an invention
and then getting in position to manufacture, market and distribute or
sell. |
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Common Law Rights: Property or other legal rights
that do not absolutely require formal registration in order to enforce
them. |
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Community Patent Convention (CPC): The CPC was to
further the EPC by providing a single patent that covered the entire
territory of the European Community. |
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Composed Of: Used when defining the scope of a claim.
A transitional phrase that is interpreted in the same manner as either
"consisting of" or "consisting essentially of," depending on the facts
of the particular case. |
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Comprising: A transitional phrase that is synonymous
with (means the same thing as) "including," "containing" or
"characterized by;" is inclusive or open-ended and does not exclude
additional, unrecited elements or method steps. Comprising is a term of
art used in claim language which means that the named elements are
essential. |
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Conception: "The complete performance of the mental
part of the inventive act" and it is "the formation in the mind of the
inventor of a definite and permanent idea of the complete and operative
invention as it is thereafter to be applied in practice.." Townsend v.
Smith, 36 F.2d 292, 295, 4 USPQ 269, 271 (CCPA 1930). "[C]onception is
established when the invention is made sufficiently clear to enable one
skilled in the art to reduce it to practice without the exercise of
extensive experimentation or the exercise of inventive skill." Hiatt v.
Ziegler, 179 USPQ 757, 763 (Bd. Pat. Inter. 1973). Conception has also
been defined as a disclosure of an invention which enables one skilled
in the art to reduce the invention to a practical form without "exercise
of the inventive faculty." Gunter v. Stream, 573 F.2d 77, 197 USPQ 482 (CCPA
1978). |
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Consisting Essentially Of: A transitional phrase that
limits the scope of a claim to the specified materials or steps and
those that do not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics
of the claimed invention. For the purposes of searching for and applying
prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103, absent (without) a clear
indication in the specification or claims of what the basic and novel
characteristics actually are, "consisting essentially of" will be
construed (understood) as equivalent to "comprising." |
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Consisting Of: A transitional phrase that is closed
(only includes exactly what is stated) and excludes any element, step,
or ingredient not specified in the claim. |
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Continuation: A second application for the
same invention claimed in a prior nonprovisional application and filed
before the first application becomes abandoned or patented. |
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Contributory Infringement: Making or facilitating the
production of any portion of a patented product or a material or a
patented. |
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Convention (PCT): Convention, PCT Similar to
the EPC, The PCT convention operates as a "holding pattern" to preserve
rights in designated countries for a specified time. Comprised of
different countries than the EPC except in such instances where a
country belongs to both conventions. |
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Cross Reference: A reference (issued patent) in
another class or subclass, or a reference made in a later-filed patent
application to a related, earlier-filed application. |
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Customer Number: A number assigned by the Office that
is used to simplify the submission of an address change, to appoint a
practitioner, or to designate the fee address for a patent. Customer
numbers are primarily used by attorneys and law firms, and must be
requested using the "Request for Customer Number" form (PTO/SB/125). |
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Cyberlaw: A legal matter related to intellectual
property on the Internet and its regulation and governing. |
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