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| Terms: |
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RCE Request for Continued
Examination:
A request filed in an application in which prosecution is closed (e.g.,
the application is under final rejection or a notice of allowance) that
is filed to reopen prosecution and continue examination of the
application; requires the filing of a submission and payment of a fee. |
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Record: An original copy
of an international application filed under the Patent Cooperation
Treaty maintained by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual
Property Organization. |
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Reexamination Proceeding: At any time during the enforceability of the patent,
any person may request reexamination by the Office of any claim of a
patent on the basis of prior patents or printed publications cited under
37 CFR 1.501. In order for the request for reexamination to be granted,
a substantial new question of patentability must be present with regard
to at least one patent claim. The request must be in writing and must be
accompanied by payment of a reexamination request filing fee as set
forth in 37 CFR 1.20(c). |
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Reconsideration: When advised of the
abandonment of his or her application, applicant may either ask for
reconsideration of such holding, if he or she disagrees with it on the
basis that there is no abandonment in fact; or petition for revival
under 37 CFR 1.137. |
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Reduction
To Practice: Reduction to
practice may be an actual reduction or a constructive reduction to
practice that occurs when a patent application on the claimed invention
is filed. The actual reduction of practice occurs prior to filing the
application when the inventor is in a position to build a physical
embodiment of an invention. The filing of a patent application serves as
conception and constructive reduction to practice of the subject matter
described in the application. Thus the inventor need not provide
evidence of either conception or actual reduction to practice when
relying on the content of the patent application. |
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Reexamination:
Any person may, at any time during the period of enforceability of a
patent, file a request for an ex parte reexamination by the
Office of any claim of the patent on the basis of prior art patents or
printed publications cited under § 1.501. The
request must be accompanied by the fee for requesting reexamination set
in § 1.20(c)(1). |
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Registered
Patent Agent: One
who is not an attorney but is authorized to act for or in place of the
applicant (s) before the Office, that is, an individual who is
registered to practice before the Office. |
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| Reference:
Prior art. |
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Reissue:
An application for a patent to take the place of an unexpired
patent that is defective in one or more particulars. |
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Rejoinder: The rejoining (returning
to active consideration) of claims previously withdrawn from consideration to due
to an election requirement. |
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Rejection:
The examiner reads the application to make a determination if the claims
should be accepted or rejected. I n order to make this decision the
examiner should understand the claimed invention and then make a prior
art search for the claimed invention. With the results of the prior art
search, including any references provided by the applicant, the patent
application should be reviewed and analyzed in conjunction with the
state of the prior art to determine whether the claims define a useful,
novel, nonobvious, and enabled invention that has been clearly described
in the specification. The goal of examination is to clearly articulate
any rejection early in the prosecution process so that the applicant has
the opportunity to provide evidence of patentability and otherwise reply
completely at the earliest opportunity. The examiner then reviews all
the evidence, including arguments and evidence responsive to any
rejection, before issuing the next Office action. Where the examiner
determines that information reasonably necessary for the examination
should be required from the applicant, such a requirement should
generally be made either prior to or with the first Office action on the
merits. |
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Request
(PCT): Form PCT/RO/101, filed with an international application in
a receiving Office, which includes an indication of applicant(s) and a
designation of one or more Contracting States. |
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Restriction:
If two or more independent and distinct inventions are claimed in one
application, the examiner may require the applicant to elect (designate)
a single invention to which the claims will be restricted (limited to).
This requirement is known as a requirement for restriction (also known
as a requirement for division). Such requirement will normally be made
before any action on the merits; however, it may be made at any time
before final action (final rejection). (See 37 CFR § 1.141 and §
1.142) If restriction is required, the subject matter of the original
patent claims will be held to be constructively elected unless a
disclaimer of all the patent claims is filed in the reissue application,
which disclaimer cannot be withdrawn by applicant. |
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Reverse Engineering: The
art of extracting know-how or knowledge from an article of manufacture
or a composition of matter to determine of how to make or use it. |
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