P

Parent application A parent application is an application that discloses some part of an invention that is the same as that of a later-filed application.

Patent A patent is a right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing an invention for a fixed period of time.

Patent agent A patent agent is a person licensed to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office who is not an attorney.

Patent and Trademark Office The Patent & Trademark Office governs the issuance of patents and trademarks in the United States.

Patent application A patent application is an application to obtain a patent on an invention.

Patent attorney A patent attorney is a lawyer who is licensed to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office.

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) provides a procedure for filing an international patent application.

Patent exhaustion This ends the rights of the patent owner to control the use of a device or process used for making a device. This occurs when there is a sale without any conditions. Once the sale occurs, the owner of the patent has no further rights in the particular device that was sold. The new owner can sell, destroy, or dispose of the device as they would any other property that they own. If the device was sold or made in the United States, the rights will be exhausted and will include the process of making the device.

Patent number The patent number is the numerical reference assigned to a patent application.

Patent pending Patent pending status refers to the time period between when an inventor files a patent application and when the patent application issues into a patent or goes abandoned.

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