Patent prosecution is the interaction between a person applying for a patent (either the
inventor or his representative, usually a patent
lawyer) and the patent issuing office. In the
United States, the issuing office would be the United States Patent and Trademark Office (
USPTO).
This 'interaction' includes, but is not limited to, the process of
filing the patent, searching for
prior art, responding to
objections and
rejections of claims, and paying the associated
fees.
Patent prosecution is distinguished from
patent litigation in that patent litigation involves two opposing
parties arguing some matter, such as who has rights to a certain invention, in a
court of law. Patent prosecution involves a single party and the USPTO (or the respective country's patent office).