Non-provisional application

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Provisional application

A simplified, lower-cost patent application that establishes a priority date and allows an inventor to claim "patent pending" status for 12 months. A provisional is never examined and never becomes a patent on its own. The inventor must file a non-provisional application within 12 months or lose the priority date entirely. Provisionals are commonly used to lock in a date while refining the invention or seeking funding.

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Claim

The numbered sentences at the end of a patent that define exactly what is legally protected. Claims are the only part of a patent that determine infringement — if a product or process doesn't fall within the scope of at least one claim, there is no infringement. Every other part of a patent (abstract, drawings, specification) exists to support and illuminate the claims.

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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.

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Specification

The written description portion of a patent application — everything except the claims. The specification must describe the invention in enough detail that someone skilled in the field could make and use it. It typically includes background of the invention, a summary, a description of the drawings, and a detailed description of at least one embodiment. Courts use the specification to interpret what claim terms mean.

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Utility patent

The most common type of US patent, covering inventions that have a useful function — how something works, how it is made, or how it is used. Utility patents account for roughly 90% of all US patents issued. They last 20 years from the filing date of the non-provisional application, subject to payment of maintenance fees. Software, medical devices, chemical processes, and mechanical inventions are all protectable as utility patents.

Non-practicing entity (NPE)

A patent owner that does not make or sell products practicing its patents but earns money by licensing or asserting them. The pejorative term 'patent troll' refers to NPEs seen as using the high cost of litigation to extract settlements.