Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 20 > Chapter 72 > Subchapter I - General Provisions

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• application: when used in this chapter includes applications and any modifications, amendments, or supplements thereto, or divisions thereof. See 35 USC 184
• claimed invention: means the subject matter defined by a claim in a patent or an application for a patent. See 35 USC 100
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• contractor: means any person, small business firm, or nonprofit organization that is a party to a funding agreement. See 35 USC 201
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• determined to be obscene: means determined, in a final judgment of a court of record and of competent jurisdiction in the United States, to be obscene. See 20 USC 9101
• digital literacy skills: means the skills associated with&mdash. See 20 USC 9101
• Director: means the Director of the Institute appointed under section 9103 of this title. See 20 USC 9101
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Federal agency: means any executive agency as defined in section 105 of title 5, and the military departments as defined by section 102 of title 5. See 35 USC 201
• final judgment: means a judgment that is&mdash. See 20 USC 9101
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• funding agreement: means any contract, grant, or cooperative agreement entered into between any Federal agency, other than the Tennessee Valley Authority, and any contractor for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research work funded in whole or in part by the Federal Government. See 35 USC 201
• individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
• Institute: means the Institute of Museum and Library Services established under section 9102 of this title. See 20 USC 9101
• invention: means invention or discovery. See 35 USC 100
• invention: means any invention or discovery which is or may be patentable or otherwise protectable under this title or any novel variety of plant which is or may be protectable under the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U. See 35 USC 201
• inventor: means the individual or, if a joint invention, the individuals collectively who invented or discovered the subject matter of the invention. See 35 USC 100
• joint research agreement: means a written contract, grant, or cooperative agreement entered into by 2 or more persons or entities for the performance of experimental, developmental, or research work in the field of the claimed invention. See 35 USC 100
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• made: when used in relation to any invention means the conception or first actual reduction to practice of such invention. See 35 USC 201
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Museum and Library Services Board: means the National Museum and Library Services Board established under section 9105a of this title. See 20 USC 9101
• nonprofit organization: means universities and other institutions of higher education or an organization of the type described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U. See 35 USC 201
• oath: includes affirmation, and "sworn" includes affirmed. See 1 USC 1
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• obscene: means , with respect to a project, that&mdash. See 20 USC 9101
• officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
• patentee: includes not only the patentee to whom the patent was issued but also the successors in title to the patentee. See 35 USC 100
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• practical application: means to manufacture in the case of a composition or product, to practice in the case of a process or method, or to operate in the case of a machine or system. See 35 USC 201
• process: means process, art or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material. See 35 USC 100
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• small business firm: means a small business concern as defined at section 2 of Public Law 85-536 (15 U. See 35 USC 201
• State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• subject invention: means any invention of the contractor conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the performance of work under a funding agreement: Provided, That in the case of a variety of plant, the date of determination (as defined in section 41(d) ¹ of the Plant Variety Protection Act (7 U. See 35 USC 201
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• whoever: include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals. See 1 USC 1
• writing: includes printing and typewriting and reproductions of visual symbols by photographing, multigraphing, mimeographing, manifolding, or otherwise. See 1 USC 1