Patent terminology

Patent types

This section explains specialised patent types. Understanding these categories helps recognise regulated or niche protection regimes

Utility Patent

A patent that protects the functional aspects of an invention: how it works, what it does, or how it is made

Design Patent

Protection for the ornamental appearance of a functional article.

Plant Patent

Usually a US patent protecting asexually reproduced distinct and new plant varieties.

Pioneer Patent

Patents covering a groundbreaking invention that opens up a new field of technology/changes an existing one.

Drug Patent

Patents protecting pharma compounds, formulations, methods of treatment, or
manufacturing processes.

Software Patent

Patents protecting inventions that involve computer programs or algorithms as part of a technical solution

Biotechnology Patent

Patents protecting inventions involving living organisms, biological materials, or
biotechnological processes.

Standard Essential Patent

SEPs cover technology necessary to comply with a technical standard (eg, 5G)

Improvement Patent

A patent claiming an enhancement or modification to an existing invention.

Blocking Patent

A patent that prevents others from practising their own inventions because doing so would infringe the blocking patent.

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Structure of Patents

This section introduces the main building blocks of a patent document.

Claim: The part of a patent that legally defines the scope of protection
Description: Provides a detailed written disclosure of the invention
Abstract: A summary of the technical content appearing on the front page of a patent.
Drawings/figures: Helps explain the invention
Independet Claim: A claim that stands alone without referring to any other claim.
Dependent Claims: A claim that refers back to and further limits another claim.

Example

Dates & timelines

Filing date: The date on which a patent office receives a complete minimum filing that satisfies formal requirements.
Priority date: The effective date used to determine what prior art is relevant when assessing novelty and inventive step
Publication date: The date on which an application is officially made public by the patent office.
Grant/Issue date: The date on which the patent office officially confers patent rights.
Priority Year/ Period: The 12-month window following a first patent filing during which subsequent applications in other countries can claim priority to that first filing.
Term / Duration: The maximum period for which a patent can remain in force
Expiry date: The date on which a patent’s legal protection ceases.

Example

Patent Applications Types

Provisional Application

A simplified initial filing that establishes an early priority date without formal claims or
examination

Non-provisional/Oridinary Application

A complete patent application that undergoes examination and can mature into a granted
patent.

Continuattion Application

A subsequent application filed while the parent is pending, sharing the same disclosure but
presenting different or additional claims.

Divisional Application

An application carved out from a parent application to separately pursue subject matter
that the examiner has determined belongs to a different invention

Continuation-in-part (CIP)

An application that adds new subject matter to the disclosure of a pending parent application.

PCT/ International Application

An international application that provides a unified procedure for filing patents in multiple
member countries

National Application

A patent application filed directly with a single country’s patent office.

Reginoal Application

A single application that can grant patents effective in multiple member states of a regional patent system.

Parties & Roles

Inventor

The natural person who conceived the invention.

Applicant

The person or legal entity that files the patent application and prosecutes it through the patent office.

Owner/Assignee

The person/legal entity that holds ownership rights to a patent or application.

Licensee

A granted permission by the patent owner to practice the patented invention under specified terms.

Attorney/Agent

A qualified professional authorised to represent applicants before a patent office.

Patent Systems & Organisations

USPTO

The US federal agency responsible for granting patents & registering trademarks

EPO

The regional patent office that grants European patents effective in multiple European countries.

WIPO

A United Nations agency that administers international treaties and systems for intellectual property protection

PCT

An international treaty that provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications in
multiple countries

IP5

A forum comprising the USPTO, EPO, JPO, KIPO (Korea), and CNIPA (China) for global patent cooperation.

Unified Patent Court

A court system with exclusive jurisdiction for infringement and
validity disputes concerning Unitary Patents and European countries that have not been opted out.

Unitary Patent System

European patent option where a single European patent with unitary effect gives uniform protection across all participating states.

Paris Convention

The foundational international treaty establishing key principles of patent law, including priority rights.

National Patent Office

A government agency of a specific country responsible for granting patents and
administering patent law within that jurisdiction.

Patent Prosecution Highway

A cooperative framework allowing applicants to fast-track examination in one patent office
based on favorable results from another.

Prosecution & examination

Prosecution

The process of interacting with a patent office from filing through to grant or abandonment.

Examination

The substantive review by a patent office to determine whether an application meets
patentability requirements.

The systematic investigation of prior art to assess novelty and inventive step.

Office Action

A formal written communication from the patent office stating objections, rejections, or
requirements.

Response / Reply to Office Action

The applicant’s formal submission addressing the issues raised in an office action.

Amendment

A change to the claims, description, or drawings made during prosecution.

Allowance

The examiner’s decision that the application is fit for grant.

Rejection

The examiner’s decision that one or more claims are not patentable in their current form.

Appeal

A request for review of an examiner’s decision by a higher authority within the patent
office.

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Patentability Requirements

Novelty: An invention must be new and not disclosed in the prior art.
Inventive step / Non-obviousness: The invention must not be obvious to a person skilled in the art/person having ordinary skills in the art (PHOSITA) in view of the prior art
Industrial applicability/ Utility: The invention must be capable of being made or used in some kind of
industry
Enablement / Sufficiency of disclosure: The patent specification must describe the invention in sufficient detail for a skilled person to carry it out.
Support/ Written description: Each claim must be supported by and fairly based on the disclosure in the specification.
Clarity: Claims must be understandable and unambiguous so that the scope protection is clear
Unity of invention: The application must relate to a single invention or a group of inventions forming a single general inventive concept
Prior art: All the information made publicly available before filing or priority date

Post-Grant Procedures

Opposition: A formal administrative procedure allowing third parties to challenge a granted patent before the patent office.
Re-examination/ Post-grant review: A procedure for reviewing the validity of a granted patent based on prior art or other patentability grounds
Maintenance/Renewal/ Annuity fees: Periodic payments required to keep a patent in force throughout its term.
Lapse / Abandonment: The termination of a patent or application due to failure to meet procedural requirements or pay fees.
Restoration / Revival: A procedural remedy to revive a patent or application that has lapsed or been abandoned.
Surrender/Withdrawal: The voluntary termination of a patent or application by the owner: The date on which a patent’s legal protection ceases.

Patent Families & Citations

Patent Family

A collection of patent applications and granted patents in multiple jurisdictions that claim priority from a common earliest application.

INPADOC extended family

A broad or extended patent family definition that groups all documents sharing at least one common priority, even if they do not all share exactly the same set of priorities.

DOCDB: Simple family

A DOCDB patent family is a narrower family grouping that includes only documents sharing the same set of priority applications and, therefore are intended to represent a single inventive disclosure.

Priority Document

The first patent application filed for an invention, which establishes the priority date for subsequent filings.

Forward Citation

A citation to a patent by a later patent document, indicating that the later document referenced the earlier one as prior art.

Infringement & Enforcement

Infringement

The unauthorised making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing of a patented invention.

Freedom to Operate

The ability to make, use, or sell a product or practice a process without infringing valid patents held by others.

Validity

The legal status of a patent that has been properly granted and meets all substantive requirements for patentability.

Invalidity

A finding that a patent does not meet the legal requirements, and therefore cannot be enforced.

License

A contractual permission granted by the patent owner allowing another party to practice the patented invention.

Compulsory license

A government-authorised license to use a patented invention without the patent owner’s consent, typically for public interest concerns.

Damages

Monetary compensation awarded to a patent owner for infringement.

Injunction

A court order requiring an infringer to stop making, using, or selling the patented invention.

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