The last name of the Inventor. If multiple Inventors, this will be last name of first inventor + et al.
The Applicant is the Inventor or Inventors by default. Otherwise, the Applicant is the entity to whom the patent is expected to belong
The US Patent Number is assigned consecutively and is the primary identifier for the issued patent.
The period of enforceability starts on the Date of the Patent.
Any person who contributed to the invention as defined by the Claims must be named as an Inventor and no one who did not contribute to the invention as defined by the claims may not be listed.
Application number is assigned consecutively with a series code and is the primary identifier for the application.
The first 2 digits are the series code and after 999,999, the series will increase by 1.
The USPTO operates with a "first-to-to-file' system. Publication dates of References uncovered during an examiner patent search will need to predate the date filed to be prior art.
Incoming applications are classified according to a hierarchy of technical subject matter.
These are the classes (according the the classification system) in which the Examiner searched for evidence of prior invention.
The primary examiner is a senior patent examiner who has passed a qualification/skill review program.
The Assistant Examiner is a junior examiner who has not passed through the program and requires oversight by a Primary Examiner who may also be the junior examiner's Supervisory Patent Examiner.
The practitioner or firm submitting the Issue Fee who wishes to be named as Attorney, Agent or Firm. May be different from drafter or prosecutor.
The abstract is a short description of the novel and/or inventive features of the invention and must be no more than 150 words.
References cited may include references cited by the Applicant, by the US Patent Examiner and/or a third party.
The figure on the face of the patent should be a representation of the invention as defined by the Claims. The figure is initially selected by the Applicant but the Examiner may select a different figure the Examiner feels better represents the invention as defined by the Claims.