15 Facts About Patent application

Patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for an invention described in the patent specification and a set of one or more claims stated in a formal document, including necessary official forms and related correspondence.

Patent application prosecution is distinct from patent litigation which relates to legal proceedings for infringement of a patent after it is granted.

Term patent application refers to the legal and administrative proceedings of requesting the issuance of a patent for an invention, as well as to the physical document and content of the description and claims of the invention, including its procedural paper work.

The expression "Patent application" is often employed without being conscious of its ambiguity.

The European Patent application Office is an example of a Regional patent office.

In most countries, if a national Patent application succeeds, damages can be claimed from the date of the international Patent application's publication.

In certain offices a patent application can be filed as a continuation of a previous application.

Various types of continuation Patent application are possible, such as continuation and continuation-in-part.

Divisional patent application is one which has been "divided" from an existing application.

Patent application specification is a document describing the invention for which a patent is sought and setting out the scope of the protection of the patent.

The search report is published, generally with the Patent application 18 months after the priority date of the Patent application, and as such is a public document.

In such case, a separate search report is not issued, and it is not until the application is examined that the applicant is informed of prior art which the patent office examiner considers relevant.

Examination is the process of ensuring that an application complies with the requirements of the relevant patent laws.

Once the patent application complies with the requirements of the relevant patent office, a patent is granted further official fees, and in some regional patent systems, such as the European patent system, validating the patent requires that the applicant provide translations of the application in the official languages of states in which they desire protection.

Patent application generally contains a description of the invention and at least one claim purporting to define it.