Paper M2 study materials
Paper M2 study resources

Paper M2 key terms

Paper M2 · Get comfortable with the vocabulary.

Filing date

The date accorded under the applicable filing requirements, distinguished from priority, publication, grant and the date of a later office communication.

Priority claim

A request to rely on an earlier filing under the applicable conditions, which does not automatically establish valid priority for every claimed feature.

Patent application

A request for patent protection under the relevant procedure, distinguished from a granted and enforceable right with particular territorial effects.

European patent

A patent granted through the EPC procedure, whose subsequent effects and maintenance require the relevant territorial and post-grant framework.

PCT application

An international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which facilitates a procedure without itself creating one worldwide granted patent.

Receiving Office

The office competent to receive an international application under the relevant requirements, distinguished from every later search, examination or regional-phase function.

Regional phase

The phase in which an international application proceeds before a regional office under the applicable entry requirements and subsequent procedure.

Claim

A statement defining the subject matter for which protection is sought, interpreted within the governing legal framework and relevant application documents.

Novelty

The requirement that the relevant claimed subject matter is not disclosed by the applicable prior art under the governing novelty test.

Inventive step

The requirement that the claimed invention is not obvious under the applicable legal assessment, distinct from merely being new.

Added subject matter

Content introduced by amendment beyond what the governing disclosure standard permits from the application as filed, even where a claim becomes narrower.

Sufficiency of disclosure

The requirement for disclosure enabling the skilled person to carry out the invention under the applicable standard, distinguished from claim clarity alone.

Opposition

A legally defined post-grant challenge before the relevant patent office with its own grounds, admissibility requirements, deadlines and possible outcomes.

Appeal

Review of an appealable decision through the applicable appeal procedure, distinguished from an unrestricted opportunity to repeat every earlier submission.

Further processing

A procedural remedy available for certain missed time limits under defined conditions, rather than a universal cure for all omissions.

Re-establishment

A remedy for qualifying failures under its actual requirements, including the applicable time limits and standard of care where relevant.

Petition for review

A narrowly defined review of an appeal decision on specified grounds, distinguished from a general further appeal on substantive disagreement.

Renewal fee

A fee maintaining the relevant application or right under its applicable stage and territory, with a due date distinct from an administrative payment reminder.

Unitary effect

A particular post-grant effect available under its relevant framework and conditions, distinguished from assuming every European patent automatically has it.

Docket record

An auditable record connecting a procedural obligation, triggering event, deadline and completed action, rather than a calendar entry without supporting evidence.