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Examiner

Definition

A USPTO employee trained in a specific technical field who reviews patent applications for compliance with patent law. Examiners search prior artprior artEarlier patents, publications, or products that existed before this patent's filing date. Patent claims must be novel over the prior art.Read more →, write office actions rejecting or allowing claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →, and conduct interviews with applicants or their attorneys. The examinerexaminerThe USPTO official who reviews a patent application and decides whether to grant it.Read more → assigned to your application has significant discretion in how they interpret your claims and apply prior art.

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Office Action Deadlines

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Appeal

A request to have a patent examiner's rejection reviewed by a higher authority. After receiving multiple rejections, an applicant can appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) within the USPTO, and from there to federal court. Appeals are expensive and slow, but sometimes necessary when an examiner applies the law incorrectly.

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Art unit

A group of patent examiners at the USPTO who specialize in a particular technology area. Each application is assigned to the art unit whose examiners are trained in the relevant field. The art unit assignment matters because examiner expertise — and rejection rates — vary significantly across technology areas.

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Backward citation

An earlier patent or publication that a given patent cites as part of its prior-art foundation — listed on the patent's front page as "references cited." Backward citations show what an invention built upon: a drone patent might cite earlier flight-control patents. Some references come from the applicant, others are added by the examiner during the prior-art search. The opposite of a forward citation.

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Basis for rejection

The specific legal grounds a patent examiner cites when refusing to allow a claim. Common bases include lack of novelty (35 USC § 102), obviousness (35 USC § 103), failure to fully describe the invention (35 USC § 112), and unpatentable subject matter (35 USC § 101). An office action will state the basis for each rejection, and applicants must address each one in their response.

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Divisional

A patent application split off from a parent application because the USPTO determined the parent contained claims to more than one distinct invention. When an examiner issues a "restriction requirement," the applicant must elect one group of claims to pursue in the parent; the rest can be filed as a divisional. Divisionals get the parent's original filing date.

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File wrapper

The complete record of all communications between an applicant and the USPTO during patent prosecution — including the original application, all office actions, all responses, and the notice of allowance. Also called the "prosecution history." The file wrapper is public and permanent; courts use it during litigation to interpret the scope of claims based on statements the applicant made to the examiner.

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