PatentBrief
← Glossary/F

File wrapper

Definition

The complete record of all communications between an applicant and the USPTO during patent prosecutionprosecutionThe whole process of moving a patent application from filing through grant or abandonment at the USPTO.Read more → — including the original application, all office actions, all responses, and the notice of allowancenotice of allowanceUSPTO document signaling claims are allowable and a patent will issue once the applicant pays the issue fee.Read more →. Also called the "prosecution historyprosecution historyThe public record of an applicant's exchanges with the patent examiner. Courts use it to constrain what the claims can mean.Read more →." The file wrapperfile wrapperThe complete public record of communications between an applicant and the USPTO during prosecution. Used in litigation to interpret claim scope.Read more → is public and permanent; courts use it during litigationlitigationA lawsuit over patent infringement. Litigated patents often signal commercial importance.Read more → to interpret the scope of claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more → based on statements the applicant made to the examinerexaminerThe USPTO official who reviews a patent application and decides whether to grant it.Read more →.

Where this comes up

Office Action Deadlines

Related terms

Keep going

Cross-referenced

Prosecution

The entire process of applying for a patent at the USPTO — from filing to grant or abandonment. Prosecution includes submitting the application, responding to office actions, amending claims, conducting examiner interviews, and ultimately receiving a notice of allowance or deciding to appeal or abandon. The full record of prosecution is preserved in the file wrapper.

Cross-referenced

Examiner

A USPTO employee trained in a specific technical field who reviews patent applications for compliance with patent law. Examiners search prior art, write office actions rejecting or allowing claims, and conduct interviews with applicants or their attorneys. The examiner assigned to your application has significant discretion in how they interpret your claims and apply prior art.

Cross-referenced

Notice of allowance

A document the USPTO sends when an examiner has determined that the claims in a patent application are allowable and a patent will be issued — once the applicant pays the issue fee. Receiving a notice of allowance means prosecution is essentially over. The applicant typically has three months to pay the issue fee.

Cross-referenced

Patent

A government-granted right that gives an inventor the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention within the country that granted the patent, for a limited time. A patent does not give the owner the right to practice the invention — only the right to exclude others. The US issues three types: utility, design, and plant patents.

First-to-file

The rule, adopted in the U.S. by the America Invents Act, that when two people independently invent the same thing the patent goes to whoever filed first, not whoever invented first. It makes the filing date critical.

Forward citation

A later patent that cites a given patent as prior art. Forward citations accumulate over time and are the standard quick measure of a patent's influence: a patent cited by hundreds of subsequent filings likely describes foundational technology, while one nobody cites probably had little impact. Investors and analysts count forward citations to gauge which patents actually shaped a field. The opposite of a backward citation.

See file wrapper in real patents:

Search PatentBrief →