Legal status in single documents
Each patent document in Octimine is assigned a legal status tag that provides a quick indication of its current state. These tags are color-coded and can be found in the patent viewer, visible once the family dropdown is expanded. The available tags are:
Name | Color |
GRANTED | Green |
PENDING | Yellow |
DEAD | Red |
UNKNOWN | Gray |
To see more detailed information about a patent's legal status, you can hover over the tag in the bibliographic information section. This will provide additional context about the status.
The legal status tags are derived from various states provided by our data sources. Below is a comprehensive list of possible statuses for both published applications and granted patents or utility models:
For published applications:
Data source value | Shown tag | Description |
Granted | GRANTED | The application is granted |
Pending | PENDING | The application is under examination |
Withdrawn | DEAD | The applicant has withdrawn the application |
Abandoned | DEAD | The applicant has abandoned the application |
Ceased | DEAD | The patent office has refused, terminated before grant, or rejected the application |
Expired - lifetime | DEAD | The application has exceeded its lifetime limit |
Revoked | DEAD | The patent office has revoked the application |
Withdrawn - after issue | DEAD | The applicant has withdrawn the granted application |
Unknown | UNKNOWN | Information not provided by the patent office |
For granted patents and utility models:
Data source value | Shown tag | Description |
Active | GRANTED | The patent/utility model is active |
Active - reinstated | GRANTED | The patent office has reinstated the patent/utility model |
Expired - Fee related | DEAD | The patent/utility model annuity or maintenance fee payment has been missed |
Expired | DEAD | The patent/utility model is expired |
Expired - Lifetime | DEAD | The patent/utility model has exceeded its lifetime limit |
Ceased | DEAD | The patent office has ceased the patent/utility model |
Withdrawn - after issue | DEAD | The applicant has withdrawn the granted patent/utility model |
In-force (designated states only) | GRANTED | The patent/utility model is active in at least one designated country |
Not-in-force (designated States only) | DEAD | The patent/utility model is not active in any of the designated country |
Revoked | DEAD | The patent office has revoked the patent/utility model |
Unknown | UNKNOWN | Information not provided by the patent office |
Legal status in patent families
The legal status of a patent family is determined by the statuses of its individual members and is displayed in the result list in a separate column.
Possible family statuses:
Name | Color | Description |
ALIVE | Green | The family has at least one granted or pending member |
DEAD / UNKNOWN | red and grey | The family has no granted or pending members, but includes unknown ones |
DEAD | Red | The family has no granted or pending members |
UNKNOWN | Gray | The family has only unknown members |
Special considerations:
DEAD / UNKNOWN Tag: A family might have both DEAD and UNKNOWN tags if one or more members have an unknown status. Since we can’t assume that the family is entirely inactive, we show both statuses.
Filtering Families: When applying filters, a family tagged as DEAD / UNKNOWN is treated as part of both categories. For instance, if you filter out all DEAD families, those with DEAD / UNKNOWN tags will not be filtered out, since the unknown status suggests they might still be active.
These tags and statuses help you quickly assess the legal standing of individual patents and their families. For more detailed information about the data sources, please visit IFI Claims.
For more information, visit IFI Claims.