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Recording Assignment Recording an assignment of a patent is not mandatory; however, it places notice of ownership in the public record.

Reduction to practiceA reduction to practice may be either actual or constructive. Actual reduction to practice is construction of a model that functions for its intended purpose. A constructive reduction to practice takes place by filing a patent application.

Reexamination A reexamination is a request for the United States Patent and Trademark Office to reopen and reexamine a patent.

Reference A reference is subject matter in the prior art, such as a patent, a patent application that has published, or non-patent literature, such as webpages, promotional documents and articles.

Registered patent practitioner A registered patent practitioner is a person who is licensed to practice law before the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Patent agents and patent attorneys are registered patent practitioners.

Reissue Reissue allows an inventor to change the claims of a patent after issuance, typically to correct errors or to broaden the claims (within the first two years). No new subject matter may be added during this process.

Rejection A rejection is issued from the United States Patent & Trademark Office if the examiner concludes, after review, that the claims of the invention are not patentable subject matter, not novel or obvious.

Reply Brief An applicant for a patent or trademark may respond to the examiner’s answer in an appeal via a reply brief.

Request for Continuing Examination (RCE) A request for continuing examination is a request by the applicant for continued examination of an application. It is typically utilized when the examiner will not enter amendments made after a final rejection as constituting new issues. Essentially, the examiner is requiring another fee to do another search of the amended claims.

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