The act or state of interfering, or of claiming a right to the same invention.

an administrative proceeding instituted in the Patent Office to determine questions of patentability and priority of invention between two or more parties claiming the same patentable invention

an inter partes proceeding in the U

an inter partes proceeding to contest various claimant's right to claims defining the same patentable invention

a priority fight (i

a proceeding conducted by the Patent Office when two or more parties claim the same invention in patent filings

a proceeding instituted in the Patent and Trademark Office before the Board to determine any question of patentability and priority of invention between two or more parties claiming the same patentable invention

a proceeding in which the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board determines which, if any, of the owners of conflicting applications (or of one or more applications and one or more registrations that are in conflict) is entitled to registration

a proceeding within the U

priority proceedings in the PTO to determine which of the two or more parties was first to invent the subject matter in conflict.

A procedure declared by the patent office when it appears that two or more people made the same invention at roughly the same time. It is an expensive, lengthy court-like proceeding designed to determine who was the first true inventor. About 1/10 of 1% of patents are involved in interference proceedings.

A multiparty priority proceeding in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wherein two or more parties claim the same invention. The parties present evidence of conception and reduction to practice with a view toward proving who first invented the subject matter of the claims involved in the interference.

when two or more patent applications or issued patents claim the same invention.

In patent law, a procedure to resolve a conflict that occurs when two or more patent applications have been filed on the same invention. When this happens, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) examines a number of factors in order to determine who gets the patent, including who first conceived of the invention and worked on it diligently, who first built and tested the invention and who was first to file a patent application.