Glossary of Intellectual Property Terms
Welcome to our comprehensive Glossary of IP Terms. Intellectual property law, while fascinating, often comes with its own specialized vocabulary. This resource is designed to demystify complex concepts, providing clear and concise definitions for key terms related to patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other IP rights, particularly within the context of Thai and international IP law. Use this glossary to confidently navigate your IP journey.
IP Glossary: A - B
A
Abstract: A concise summary of a patent application's technical disclosure, typically around 150-200 words, designed to provide a quick overview of the invention.
Amendment: A change made to a patent application, trademark application, or other IP filing during its prosecution, usually to overcome objections or clarify scope.
Annuity (Patent): Annual fees paid to the patent office to maintain a granted patent in force. In Thailand, annuities start accruing from the 5th year from the Thai filing date.
Appellation of Origin: A geographical indication used on products that have a specific quality or characteristics that are exclusively or essentially due to the geographical environment, including natural and human factors.
Assignment: The legal transfer of ownership of an intellectual property right (e.g., patent, trademark, copyright) from one party (assignor) to another (assignee).
B
Berne Convention: An international treaty governing copyright, establishing principles of national treatment, automatic protection, and independence of protection for literary and artistic works among member countries.
Brand Equity: The commercial value derived from consumer perception of the brand name of a particular product or service rather than from the product or service itself.
IP Glossary: C
Cease and Desist Letter: A formal legal document sent to an alleged infringer demanding that they stop (cease) and not start again (desist) from particular activities that infringe on IP rights.
Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (CIPITC): The specialized court in Thailand that handles all civil and criminal matters related to intellectual property and international trade disputes.
Certification Mark: A type of trademark used to indicate that the goods or services meet certain standards (e.g., quality, accuracy, origin, material, mode of manufacture) established by the certifier.
Claims (Patent): The most critical part of a patent specification, defining the precise legal scope of the invention for which protection is sought.
Claims Construction: The process by which a court or patent office interprets the meaning and scope of the claims of a patent. Also known as claim interpretation.
Collective Mark: A type of trademark used by members of a cooperative, association, or other collective organization to distinguish their goods or services from those of others.
Compulsory License: A non-voluntary license that allows a government to permit a third party to use a patented invention without the patent holder's permission, typically under specific conditions (e.g., public health emergencies, abuse of rights).
Confidentiality Agreement: (See Non-Disclosure Agreement)
Contributory Infringement: Occurs when a party, without directly infringing, aids or encourages another party to infringe on an IP right.
Copyright: A legal right that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time. In Thailand, copyright arises automatically upon creation.
Counterfeit Goods: Products made in imitation of a genuine article with the intent to defraud, typically involving the unauthorized reproduction of a registered trademark.
Court of Appeal for Specialized Cases: A court in Thailand that hears appeals from decisions of the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court (CIPITC) and other specialized courts.
Custom Recordation: A border enforcement measure where intellectual property right holders register their IP rights (e.g., trademarks, copyrights) with customs authorities. This allows customs officials to identify and seize infringing goods at the border, preventing their import or export.
IP Glossary: D
Damages: Monetary compensation awarded to a party that has suffered loss or injury due to an IP infringement.
Declaration: A formal written statement, often made under penalty of perjury, submitted as evidence or as part of a legal filing.
Design Patent (Industrial Design): A type of patent that protects the ornamental or aesthetic appearance of an article, rather than its functional aspects. In Thailand, protected for 10 years.
Dilution (Trademark): The weakening of a famous trademark's distinctiveness or reputation through unauthorized use, even if there's no likelihood of confusion (e.g., tarnishment or blurring).
Disclosure (Patent): The requirement in patent law that a patent application must describe the invention in sufficient detail to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use it.
Distinctiveness (Trademark): A fundamental requirement for a trademark to be registrable; the mark must be capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of others.
Divisional Application: A new patent application filed voluntarily or upon examiner's request, containing subject matter disclosed in an earlier, pending "parent" application, typically when the parent application lacks unity of invention.
Drawings (Patent): Visual representations (schematics, flowcharts, etc.) that illustrate the invention described in a patent application, providing clarity to the claims and specification.
Due Care Standard: A legal standard, often applied in patent law, requiring a party to have taken all reasonable steps to comply with a deadline or requirement. Often relevant in requests for reinstatement after missing a deadline.
Due Diligence (IP): A comprehensive investigation into the intellectual property assets of a company or individual, often conducted before a merger, acquisition, licensing deal, or investment.
IP Glossary: E - F
E
Enforcement: The process by which an intellectual property owner defends their rights against infringement, which can involve sending cease-desist letters, litigation, or criminal proceedings.
Espacenet: A free online patent search database provided by the European Patent Office (EPO), offering access to millions of patent documents worldwide.
Examination Report: An official written communication issued by a patent or trademark examiner during the prosecution of an application. It sets out the findings of the examination, including any objections to the application based on legal requirements or prior art, and often requires a response from the applicant.
Exhaustion of Rights: A legal doctrine that states that once a patented product or copyrighted work has been sold (or put on the market) by the IP owner or with their consent, the IP owner can no longer control its subsequent resale or distribution. Thailand adheres to the principle of international exhaustion.
Expert Witness: An individual with specialized knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education in a particular field, who provides an opinion to a court or tribunal on matters within their expertise.
F
Fair Use / Fair Dealing: Legal doctrines that permit limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders, often for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.
Filing Date: The date on which a patent or trademark application is officially received by the relevant intellectual property office, which is crucial for determining priority.
Formality Examination: The initial stage of patent or trademark examination where an application is checked for compliance with administrative and formal requirements (e.g., correct forms, fees paid, proper formatting).
IP Glossary: G - H
G
Genericide: The process by which a trademark becomes so commonly used to refer to a product or service in general that it loses its distinctiveness and can no longer be protected as a trademark (e.g., "aspirin," "escalator" in some regions).
Geographical Indication (GI): A sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin (e.g., "Champagne").
Goodwill: The intangible value of a business derived from its reputation, customer loyalty, brand recognition, and other non-physical assets, often closely associated with its trademarks.
Google Patents: A free online database that provides access to millions of patent documents from around the world, integrated with Google's search engine technology.
Grace Period: A period of time, after a legal deadline has passed, during which an applicant can still complete an action (e.g., pay a fee, file a document) usually with an additional surcharge or penalty.
Grant (Patent): The official act by which a patent office approves and formally issues a patent, granting the applicant exclusive rights.
H
Hague Agreement: An international treaty administered by WIPO that provides a system for the international registration of industrial designs, allowing applicants to obtain protection in multiple member countries through a single application.
Harmonization (of IP Laws): The process of making intellectual property laws and procedures across different countries or jurisdictions more consistent and uniform, typically through international treaties or agreements, to facilitate cross-border protection and enforcement.
IP Glossary: I - J
I
Industrial Applicability (Patent): A requirement for patentability, meaning the invention must be capable of being made or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture, handicrafts, and services.
Industrial Design: The ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article, protected by a design patent.
Infringement: The unauthorized use, reproduction, sale, or distribution of an intellectual property right (patent, trademark, copyright) without the owner's permission.
Injunction: A court order that requires a party to perform or refrain from performing a specific act, often used to stop ongoing IP infringement.
Integrated Circuit (IC): A set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material. Layout designs (topographies) of ICs can be protected by specific IP rights.
Inventive Step (Patent): A requirement for patentability, meaning the invention must not be obvious to a person skilled in the art, in light of the prior art.
Invention: A new solution to a technical problem, typically eligible for patent protection.
Inventorship: The legal determination of who conceived the subject matter of the claims of a patent application. Distinct from ownership.
Intellectual Property (IP): Creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names, and images used in commerce.
J
Joint Invention / Joint Inventor: An invention conceived by two or more individuals acting together. A joint inventor is a person who collaborated with another(s) in conceiving the invention.
JPO (Japan Patent Office): The national intellectual property office of Japan, responsible for granting patents, registering trademarks, and industrial designs in Japan.
Judgment: The final decision or verdict rendered by a court in a legal case, including those involving intellectual property disputes.
Jurisdiction: The authority of a court or legal body to hear and decide a legal case. In IP, this refers to which country's or court's laws apply and where a case can be filed.
IP Glossary: K - L
K
KIPO (Korean Intellectual Property Office): The national intellectual property office of South Korea, responsible for granting patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks in Korea.
Know-how: Practical, often confidential, technical or commercial information acquired through experience or study that is not protected by patents but is essential for the effective use or exploitation of a technology or business process. It is often protected as a trade secret and can be licensed.
L
Layout Design (Topography): The three-dimensional arrangement of elements, layers, and interconnections within an integrated circuit, protectable as a specific IP right.
Letter of Consent: A document in which the owner of an earlier-filed or registered intellectual property right (most commonly a trademark) formally agrees to the registration and/or use of a similar or identical mark by another party. In some jurisdictions, this can sometimes help overcome a likelihood of confusion objection during examination.
Licensing: A contractual agreement by which an intellectual property owner (licensor) grants another party (licensee) permission to use their IP under specified conditions, typically in exchange for royalties or fees.
Litigation: The process of taking legal action in court to resolve an IP dispute, such as an infringement claim or an invalidation action.
IP Glossary: M - O
M
Madrid Protocol: An international treaty that allows for the centralized filing and management of trademark registrations in multiple member countries through a single international application.
Marrakesh VIP Treaty (MVT): An international treaty that facilitates the creation and international exchange of accessible format copies of published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled.
Misappropriation (Trade Secret): The unauthorized acquisition, disclosure, or use of a trade secret by a person who knew or should have known that the trade secret was acquired by improper means.
Moral Rights (Copyright): Non-economic rights of authors, often recognized independently of their economic rights, including the right of attribution (paternity) and the right to object to distortion or mutilation (integrity).
N
National Phase (PCT): The stage in the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) process where an international patent application enters the national or regional patent system of designated countries to pursue a granted patent.
Nice Classification: An international classification system for goods and services used for the registration of trademarks, comprising 45 classes.
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): A legally binding contract that establishes a confidential relationship between parties, protecting sensitive information (e.g., trade secrets, new inventions) from unauthorized disclosure.
Novelty (Patent): A fundamental requirement for patentability, meaning the invention must be new and not have been publicly disclosed or known anywhere in the world before the patent application's filing date or priority date.
O
Office Action: An official communication from a patent or trademark examiner raising objections or requiring clarification regarding an application.
Opposition (Patent/Trademark): A legal procedure allowing third parties to challenge the grant of a patent or the registration of a trademark during a specific period after its publication, before it is formally granted/registered.
IP Glossary: P
Paris Convention: An international treaty for the protection of industrial property (patents, trademarks, industrial designs), establishing principles like national treatment and the right of priority.
Patent: A legal right granted to an inventor or assignee by a government to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing an invention for a limited period, typically in exchange for public disclosure.
Patent Agent/Attorney: A qualified professional authorized to represent clients before a patent office in matters related to patent applications and prosecution.
Patent Gazette: The official publication of a patent office, where patent applications are published for opposition and granted patents are announced.
Patent Landscape: A study that maps out the patent activity in a specific technological field, identifying trends, key players, white spaces, and potential infringement risks.
Patent Pending: A status indicating that a patent application has been filed but has not yet been granted. It does not provide enforceable rights but serves as a warning.
Patent Pool: An agreement between two or more patent owners to license one or more of their patents to one another or to third parties.
Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH): A program between participating patent offices that allows applicants to request accelerated examination if their claims have been found patentable in a corresponding application by another participating office.
Patent Term: The duration of a patent's protection, typically 20 years from the filing date for invention patents in Thailand.
Patentability: The legal criteria an invention must meet to be eligible for patent protection (e.g., novelty, inventive step, industrial applicability, patentable subject matter).
PATENTSCOPE: A free online patent search database provided by WIPO, offering access to international PCT applications and national patent collections.
PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty): An international treaty that provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each of its contracting states.
Person Skilled in the Art (PHOSITA): A hypothetical person used in patent law to assess whether an invention is obvious. This person possesses average knowledge and skill in the relevant technical field.
Petty Patent: A type of patent in Thailand for minor inventions or utility innovations, requiring novelty and industrial applicability but a lower inventive step than an invention patent. Protected for 10 years.
Piracy (Copyright): The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of copyrighted works, often on a commercial scale.
Plant Variety Rights: A form of intellectual property protection granted to breeders of new plant varieties, providing exclusive rights over their production and sale.
Power of Attorney (POA): A legal document authorizing one person (agent/attorney) to act on behalf of another (applicant) in legal matters, such as filing and prosecuting patent or trademark applications.
Prior Art: All information (e.g., publications, patents, public use) that has been made available to the public anywhere in the world before a given date, which is relevant to a patent's novelty and inventive step.
Prior User Rights: A defense against patent infringement where a party can prove they were already using or had made serious preparations to use an invention commercially before the patentee's effective filing date.
Priority Date: The date of the first filing of a patent or trademark application, which can be claimed in subsequent applications in other countries (e.g., under the Paris Convention or PCT) to establish an earlier effective filing date.
Prosecution (Patent): The process of interacting with a patent office after filing an application, including responding to office actions, making amendments, and pursuing the application to grant.
Public Domain: The status of intellectual property when its exclusive rights have expired, been forfeited, or waived, meaning it can be used freely by anyone without permission or payment.
Publication (Patent): The act of making a patent application publicly available in the patent gazette, typically occurring at a certain point after filing (e.g., 18 months from priority date or after publication fee payment in Thailand).
IP Glossary: Q - R
Q
Quality Mark: A type of certification mark used to indicate that goods or services meet specific quality standards, characteristics, or manufacturing processes as certified by a competent authority.
R
Re-examination (Patent): A procedure in some jurisdictions where a patent's validity can be re-examined by the patent office after it has been granted, typically based on new prior art.
Registration: The formal act of registering an intellectual property right (such as a trademark or design) with a national or regional authority, which typically grants or confirms exclusive rights.
Reinstatement (Patent): A request to revive a patent application or patent that has been deemed abandoned or cancelled due to missed deadlines or non-payment of fees. Often difficult to obtain.
Remedies: The legal means by which a right is enforced or a violation of a right is prevented, redressed, or compensated (e.g., injunctions, damages).
Reverse Engineering: The process of disassembling or analyzing a product, device, or system to understand its design, structure, function, or operation. Generally legal unless specific contractual agreements (e.g., NDAs) or IP rights (e.g., patents, trade secrets) are violated.
Revocation (Patent/Trademark): The process by which a granted patent or registered trademark is officially cancelled or annulled, usually due to invalidity or non-use.
Reverse Engineering: The process of disassembling or analyzing a product, device, or system to understand its design, structure, function, or operation. Generally legal unless specific contractual agreements (e.g., NDAs) or IP rights (e.g., patents, trade secrets) are violated.
Royalty: A payment made by a licensee to an IP owner (licensor) for the right to use their intellectual property (e.g., a percentage of sales).
IP Glossary: S - T
S
Service Mark: A type of trademark that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service, rather than a product.
Specification (Patent): The descriptive part of a patent application that fully describes the invention, enabling a person skilled in the art to make and use it.
Statute of Limitations: A law that sets the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. Beyond this period, the legal right to enforce a claim is generally lost.
Substantive Examination (Patent): The detailed legal and technical review of a patent application by an examiner to determine if it meets patentability requirements (novelty, inventive step, industrial applicability).
T
Thai Filing Date: The date a patent or trademark application is officially deemed to have been filed at the Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) in Thailand.
Trade Dress: The visual appearance of a product or its packaging that signifies the source of the product to consumers (e.g., unique shape of a bottle). Protectable under trademark law.
Trade Secret: Confidential business information that gives a company a competitive edge, protected without formal registration as long as it remains secret and reasonable steps are taken to maintain its secrecy.
Trademark: A sign (words, logos, designs, colors, etc.) used to distinguish the goods or services of one enterprise from those of others.
Traditional Knowledge: Knowledge, know-how, skills, and practices that are developed, sustained, and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity.
TRIPS Agreement: A foundational multilateral agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that establishes minimum standards for intellectual property protection and enforcement for all WTO member countries, ensuring IP rights are integrated into the international trading system.
IP Glossary: U - V
U
Unfair Competition: A broad area of law protecting against various deceptive or wrongful business practices that harm competition, often overlapping with trademark and trade secret law.
Unity of Invention: A patent law requirement that a single patent application should cover only one invention or a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept.
Universal Copyright Convention (UCC): A multilateral copyright treaty, administered by UNESCO, that offers an alternative international copyright protection system to the Berne Convention.
USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office, the federal agency responsible for granting U.S. patents and registering trademarks.
Utility Model: A type of industrial property right that protects technical inventions, similar to a patent but with a shorter term and less stringent requirements for inventiveness (often synonymous with "Petty Patent" in some jurisdictions).
V
Validity: The legal status of an intellectual property right (e.g., patent, trademark) indicating that it meets all the legal requirements for its grant or registration and is therefore enforceable. Validity can often be challenged in court or before an IP office.
Vienna Agreement: An international treaty that establishes an international classification system for the figurative elements of marks, used in trademark applications.
Violation: The act of breaching a law or agreement, often used interchangeably with "infringement" when referring to the unauthorized use of intellectual property rights.
IP Glossary: U - W
U
Unfair Competition: A broad area of law protecting against various deceptive or wrongful business practices that harm competition, often overlapping with trademark and trade secret law.
Unity of Invention: A patent law requirement that a single patent application should cover only one invention or a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept.
Universal Copyright Convention (UCC): A multilateral copyright treaty, administered by UNESCO, that offers an alternative international copyright protection system to the Berne Convention.
USPTO: United States Patent and Trademark Office, the federal agency responsible for granting U.S. patents and registering trademarks.
Utility Model: A type of industrial property right that protects technical inventions, similar to a patent but with a shorter term and less stringent requirements for inventiveness (often synonymous with "Petty Patent" in some jurisdictions).
V
Validity: The legal status of an intellectual property right (e.g., patent, trademark) indicating that it meets all the legal requirements for its grant or registration and is therefore enforceable. Validity can often be challenged in court or before an IP office.
Vienna Agreement: An international treaty that establishes an international classification system for the figurative elements of marks, used in trademark applications.
Violation: The act of breaching a law or agreement, often used interchangeably with "infringement" when referring to the unauthorized use of intellectual property rights.
W
WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization): A specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to promoting the protection of intellectual property rights worldwide through international cooperation.
WIPO Convention: The treaty establishing WIPO as an international organization.
This glossary provides general definitions for common IP terms. For specific legal advice or detailed explanations regarding your particular situation, please contact a qualified IP professional.