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Oath The inventor must make an oath or declaration to the United States Patent & Trademark Office that he or she is the sole and first inventor.
Objection An objection refers to a claim, drawing or portion of the specification that the examiner is requiring a change in. If a claim, it usually means that the claim can be allowed if rewritten.
Obviousness Obviousness compares the invention with the state of the prior art, wherein a patent is precluded if the differences between the prior art and the invention are such that the subject matter in the invention would be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the subject matter pertains. The USPTO utilizes two or more patents or other publications combined to cover all the elements of the claims and consider the claimed invention obvious.
Offer to Sell An offer to sell is an offer by the inventor of the invention of the article of manufacture, process, machine or composition for sale to another for value.
Office Action An office action is correspondence from the United States Patent & Trademark Office setting forth a particular position, typically rejecting or objecting to claims. It may also be directed to restriction of an application to one of two or several inventions claimed.
Official Gazette The Official Gazette is a weekly newsletter printed by the United States Patent & Trademark Office that discusses rules and regulations and announces patents and trademarks issued.
On sale A loss of patent rights occurs if the invention has been sold or offered for sale more than one year before the application filing date. Generally, the on-sale bar is triggered if the invention is subject to a commercial offering and the invention is ready for patenting.
One-year rule An inventor must file for a patent protection within one year from introduction of the invention by publication to the public.
Ownership An owner of a patent is a person who has an ownership interest in the patent, either by assignment or as an inventor. An owner does not have to be the inventor.
