aid: uspto-gov
name: USPTO Vocabulary
specVersion: '0.1'
description: |
  Domain vocabulary for U.S. patent and trademark APIs published by the United States Patent and
  Trademark Office. Aligns USPTO field names and codes with schema.org and DCAT where applicable.

concepts:
- term: Patent Application
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/PatentApplication
  definition: A request submitted to the USPTO for the grant of a patent on an invention.
- term: Patent
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/Patent
  definition: A property right granted by the USPTO that excludes others from making, using, or selling
    an invention for a limited term.
- term: Trademark
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/Trademark
  definition: A word, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of goods
    or services.
- term: PTAB
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/Ptab
  definition: Patent Trial and Appeal Board — an adjudicative body within the USPTO that conducts
    AIA trials (IPR, PGR, CBM) and ex parte appeals.
- term: TSDR
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/Tsdr
  definition: Trademark Status & Document Retrieval system providing trademark case status and file
    wrapper documents.
- term: File Wrapper
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/FileWrapper
  definition: The complete record of a patent or trademark application's prosecution history.
- term: Office Action
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/OfficeAction
  definition: A written communication from a USPTO examiner regarding an application, often containing
    rejections, objections, or requirements.
- term: Enriched Citation
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/EnrichedCitation
  definition: A citation extracted from an office action and normalized against the application's
    reference list using machine-learning entity resolution.
- term: Assignment
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/Assignment
  definition: A transfer of ownership rights in a patent or trademark.
- term: Continuity
  uri: https://www.uspto.gov/ns/Continuity
  definition: Parent-child relationships between patent applications (continuations, divisionals,
    continuations-in-part, reissues).
- term: CPC
  uri: https://www.cooperativepatentclassification.org/
  definition: Cooperative Patent Classification — a hierarchical classification system jointly
    maintained by the USPTO and EPO.
- term: IPR
  definition: Inter Partes Review — an AIA post-grant proceeding before PTAB.
- term: PGR
  definition: Post-Grant Review — an AIA post-grant proceeding before PTAB.
- term: CBM
  definition: Covered Business Method review — a (now sunset) AIA trial type.
- term: Section 101
  definition: Patent rejection ground — subject-matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. 101.
- term: Section 102
  definition: Patent rejection ground — novelty under 35 U.S.C. 102.
- term: Section 103
  definition: Patent rejection ground — obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103.
- term: Section 112
  definition: Patent rejection ground — specification / enablement / written description under
    35 U.S.C. 112.
- term: Madrid Protocol
  definition: International trademark filing system; tracked in TSDR via International Registration
    Number.
- term: International Class
  definition: Nice Classification (NCL) class for trademark goods and services.

services:
- name: Open Data Portal (ODP)
  uri: https://data.uspto.gov/
  description: Unified USPTO data platform hosting Patent File Wrapper, PTAB, Office Action, Bulk
    Data, and (from March 2026) PatentsView APIs.
- name: TSDR
  uri: https://tsdr.uspto.gov/
  description: Trademark Status & Document Retrieval system with public web UI and API.
- name: Patent Center
  uri: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/
  description: Modern web UI for patent applicants and the underlying public data surface for ODP.

tools:
- name: USPTO ODP Go client
  uri: https://github.com/patent-dev/uspto-odp
  description: Open-source Go client library for the USPTO Open Data Portal API.
- name: USPTO Open Data Python client
  uri: https://docs.ip-tools.org/uspto-opendata-python/
  description: Python client covering legacy PEDS and ODP APIs.
- name: patent-client
  uri: https://patent-client.readthedocs.io/
  description: Multi-source Python client for USPTO and EPO patent data.

standards:
- name: WIPO ST.66
  description: XML schema for trademark data exchange; used by TSDR.
- name: WIPO ST.96
  description: XML schema for IP data exchange; used by TSDR and other USPTO services.
- name: Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
  uri: https://www.cooperativepatentclassification.org/
- name: Nice Classification (NCL)
  uri: https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/