Patent Terms Glossary

Trade Secret

Definition:
Information that companies keep secret to give them an advantage over their competitors.

Invention

Definition:
Any art or process (way of doing or making things), machine, manufacture, design, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, or any variety of plant, which is or may be patentable.

Pro Se

Definition:
Used to designate an independent inventor who has elected to file an application by themselves without the services of a licensed representative.

Group Art Unit

Definition:
A working unit responsible for a cluster of related patent art. Staffed by one supervisory patent examiner (SPE) and a number of patent examiners who determine patentability on applications for a patent.

Design Patent

Definition:
May be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture.

Application Number (patent)

Definition:
The unique number assigned to a patent application when it is filed. The application number includes a two digit series code and a six digit serial number.

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