Patent Pending

A phrase used to indicate that a patent application has been filed for an invention but has not yet been granted (or refused).

Enforceable rights only arise when a patent is granted. Accordingly, a patent application that is pending (i.e. not granted or refused) does not enable the applicant to prevent or stop the use of their invention by third parties. Nonetheless, damages for using the invention covered by a patent application without the applicant's permission may start to accrue once the patent application has been published (even though infringement proceedings can only be brought once it has been granted).

Accordingly, it is common to mark products as being "patent pending" in order to make others aware of the existence of the pending patent application. This can deter others from using the invention and improve the chances of fully recovering any damages in later infringement proceedings (if and when a patent is granted).

However, care needs to be taken when asserting the existence of a pending patent application to ensure that no false claims are made, and to avoid doing anything that may be construed as a threat to bring infringement proceedings against a third party until after a patent has been granted (and even then caution should be exercised), as this may lead to civil or even criminal liabilities.