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Response

Definition

A written reply from a patent applicant to an office actionoffice actionAn official letter from the USPTO during examination, usually rejecting some or all claims and explaining why.Read more →. A response must address every rejection and objection raised by the examinerexaminerThe USPTO official who reviews a patent application and decides whether to grant it.Read more → — arguing why the rejection is wrong, amending the claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more → to overcome the rejection, or both. Failing to respond within the deadline causes the application to go abandoned. A well-crafted response is often the difference between getting a patent and getting a final rejection.

Where this comes up

Office Action Deadlines

Related terms

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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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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

Office action

A written communication from a USPTO examiner to a patent applicant, typically containing rejections, objections, or requirements for the application. A "final office action" signals that the examiner has given the applicant one more chance to respond before the application is abandoned. Applicants generally have three months to respond (extendable to six months for a 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.

Reasonable royalty

The floor for money damages in an infringement case: the royalty the infringer would have agreed to pay in a hypothetical negotiation at the time infringement began. It applies when the patent owner cannot prove lost profits.

Reduction to practice

Turning an idea into a working form: either by actually building and testing it (actual reduction to practice) or by filing a patent application that fully describes how to make and use it (constructive reduction to practice).

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