Rationale for Patentability: The reasoning behind a decision that a
claimed invention is patentable.
Read On: A claim reads on something, if every element of that claim is
present in that which it reads on. If a claim reads on prior art, then the claim
is invalid. A claim must read on an accused device for infringement to occur.
Record: That evidence which is before the court or patent office on
which a decision can be made. In a patent prosecution that consists of such
things as the inventor's oath, the patent application, any affidavits submitted,
and any prior art.
Reduction to Practice, Actual: Building a physical embodiment of an
invention and testing it under conditions that would indicate to a person
skilled in the art that the invention was useful.
Reduction to Practice, Constructive: Filing a patent application that
explains how to make and how to use an invention in sufficient detail that a
person skilled in the art could practice the invention.
Reduction to Practice: The physical part of the inventive process that
completes the process of invention. Until there is a reduction of practice,
there is no invention. There are two kinds of reduction of practice:
constructive reduction to practice, which occurs upon the filing of a patent
application that adequately discloses the invention. Constructive reduction to
practice does not involve any physical construction. Actual reduction to
practice, however, occurs when there is physical verification that the invention
works for the intended purpose. The reduction to practice must involve each and
every element that is defined as constituting the invention. The degree of
physical verification required will depend on the nature and complexity of the
invention.
Reexamination: Examination of the patentability of an invention
claimed in an issued U.S. patent at the request of the USPTO, the patent owner
or a third party.
Reference Character: A numeral or letter used to identify an element
on a patent drawing.
Reference: A document that discloses subject matter that is material
to a determination of the patentability of a claimed invention.
Reinstatement: Restoration of the enforceability of a patent.
Reissue Application: A U.S. patent application that is re-filed after
patent issues in order to correct one or more errors in the patent that occurred
without deceptive intent.
Reissue Patent: A corrected U.S. patent that issues from an allowed
reissue application.
Reissue: An application filed by a patentee after a patent has been
issued to correct applicant's errors that rendered the patent wholly or partly
inoperative because of a defective specification or drawings or which claimed
more or less than the applicant had a right to claim. The applicant must
provisionally surrender the previously issued patent. Any reissue patent that
results will have the same expiration date as the original patent.
Rejection, Final: A rejection of a claim that occurs on the second or
any subsequent examination of its patentability. After the final rejection of a
claim occurs, the only recourses of an applicant are to argue that the final
rejection was premature, to appeal the rejection or to amend the claim in
accordance with any suggestion of the examiner. The Examiner may allow the
applicant to place the claim in better form for appeal. One interview with the
examiner will be allowed, if in the judgment of the examiner, circumstances
warrant the interview.
Renewal Fees: Payments that must be made by the applicant to the
patent office in order to keep the patent in force and prevent it from lapsing.
In the USA, these are termed maintenance fees.
Request for Reconsideration: This is a written communication to a
patent office examiner asking that a decision previously made be reconsidered.
Request for Reexamination: A request filed by a patentee or a third
party seeking reexamination of one or more claims of a patent based upon an
alleged substantial new issue of patentability due to printed prior art not
considered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Examiner who handled the
application originally.
Research Disclosure: Defensive- type publications which are published,
often anonymously, to give companies and inventors "freedom of use"
rather than legal protection. Once research disclosures are published the
invention described cannot be patented.
Restriction Requirement: This occurs when an examiner concludes that a
patent application claims two or more independent and distinct inventions. The
restriction requirement, if made final, requires the applicant to elect to
pursue one group of claims in the application in which the requirement is made.
The non-elected claims may be pursued by a divisional application.
Restriction: A requirement by an examiner that an applicant choose
which of multiple claimed, distinct inventions disclosed in a patent application
that he wishes to be examined.
Revival of Abandoned Application: To reinstate a patent application
that has been abandoned, either by express abandonment or by inaction.
Abandonment by inaction typically involves failure to take a required action
(e.g., filing an incomplete response or not paying a fee) during the statutory
period for taking the action. A U.S. patent application that was unavoidably or
unintentionally abandoned can be revived by petition.
Revocation: Termination of the protection given to a patent on one or
more grounds, such as a lack of novelty.
Right of Priority: The right to priority of invention established by
filing the first patent application in an appropriate patent office.
Routineer: A person having ordinary skill in an art.
Royalty (Reasonable Royalty): A hypothetical royalty fee used as a
measure of damages to compensate for the infringement of a patent. It is the
statutory minimum amount of recovery for compensatory damages for patent
infringement.
