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Field of Invention:

The area of technology that an inventor invents within. Also called technical field or field of endeavor.

File Wrapper:

The folder in which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office maintains the application papers is referred to as a file wrapper.

File Wrapper Continuing Application:

A continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional application filed under 37 CFR 1.62, which uses the specification, drawings and oath or declaration from a prior nonprovisional application, which is complete as defined by 37 CFR 1.51(a)(1).

Filing Date:

The date of receipt in the Office of an application which includes (1) a specification containing a description and, if the application is a nonprovisional application, at least one claim, and (2) any required drawings.

Filing Fee:

The latest fee schedule is available by contacting the USPTO at 1-800-PTO(786)-9199 or (703) 308-HELP(4357), or on the USPTO web page at https://www.uspto.gov.

Final Rejection:

On the second or any subsequent examination or consideration by the examiner the rejection or other action may be made final.

First To Invent:

In the Us the patent is based on who is the first to invent. Dates of conception, reduction to practice, and who was first to come up with an invention are the most important. Other countries around the world make use of a “first-to-file” standard.

Foreign Filing License:

A foreign patent license allows the inventor to file a foreign application based on the application pending before the Patent Office, and must be accomplished within the first six months after filing a U.S. patent application. Under the statute ( 35 U.S.C. 119(b)), an applicant who wishes to secure the right of priority must comply with certain formal requirements within a time specified. If these requirements are not complied with the right of priority is lost and cannot thereafter be asserted. For non-provisional applications filed prior to November 29, 2000, the requirements of the statute are (a) that the applicant must file a claim for the right and (b) he or she must also file a certified copy of the original foreign application; these papers must be filed within a certain time limit. A U.S. patent is barred if the applicant filed a patent application in a foreign country more than one year before the U.S. filing date, and the foreign application issued prior to the U.S. filing date.

Frivolous Invention:

An invention that has no use. Patents are not granted for all new inventions and discoveries. The subject matter of the invention or discovery must come within the boundaries set forth by 35 U.S.C. 101, which permits patents to be granted only for “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.”