a brief (150 word or less) summary of a patent, usually printed on the first page. 

obsolete A former USPTO e-filing system. Superseded by EFS-Web.

This patent dictionary is meant to contain most of the most commonly used words and phrases which turn up in patent application prosecution. Is there a "patentese" term you don' [..]

in most foreign countries, any publication before filing is prior art, even if it is the inventor's own publication. This contrasts with the grace period in the US (and a few other countries) whe [..]

see Application Data Sheet

a patent claim which just recites a list of elements, without indicating how they are interrelated or assembled into an invention. For example, "A door lock comprising a knob, a latch bar and [..]

American Intellectual Property Law Association - US national organization for patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law practitioners and owners. 

the 2014 Supreme Court Alice Corp v. CLS Bank International case which held Alice Corp's claims on a method of electronic escrow to be invalid because the claims were drawn to an abstract idea, a [..]

an accused device only infringes a claim if it includes all elements of the claim, either literally or under the Doctrine of Equivalents. (see our page, "how to read a patent - claims&quo [..]

When the Examiner decides that a claim in an application is patentable, it is "allowed". If all of the claims in the application are allowed, the Examiner will issue a "Noti [..]