Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates In law, an abstract is a brief statement that contains the most important points of a long legal document or of several related legal papers.<ref name="Wolters">Template:Cite book</ref>
Types of legislationEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The abstract of title, used in real estate transactions, is the more common form of abstract. An abstract of title lists all the owners of a piece of land, a house, or a building before it came into possession of the present owner. The abstract also records all deeds, wills, mortgages, and other documents that affect ownership of the property. An abstract describes a chain of transfers from owner to owner and any agreements by former owners that are binding on later owners.<ref name="Wolters"/>
Patent lawEdit
In the context of patent law and specifically in prior art searches, searching through abstracts is a common way to find relevant prior art document to question to novelty or inventive step (or non-obviousness in United States patent law) of an invention. Under United States patent law, the abstract may be called "Abstract of the Disclosure".<ref>United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) web site, 608.01(b) Abstract of the Disclosure</ref><ref>37 CFR 1.72 – Title and abstract.</ref>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Template:PCT Rule, defining the requirements regarding the abstract in an international application filed under Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
- Template:EPC Article and Template:EPC Rule (previously Template:EPC 1973 Rule), defining the abstract-related requirements in a European patent application