Abandonment
Desertion of a child by a parent or adult primary care giver with no provisions for continued childcare nor with any apparent intention to return to resume caregiving.
Source: Children Welfare Information Gateway
A patent application becomes abandoned for failure to file a complete and proper reply as the condition of the application may require within the time period provided under 37 CFR S 1.134 and S 1.136 unless an Office action indicates otherwise.
Abandonment may be either of the invention or of an application. An abandoned application, in accordance with 37 CFR SS 1.135 and 1.138, is one which is removed from the Office docket of pending applications.
See Express Abandonment.
Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
An application that has been declared abandoned is "dead" and no longer pending. Abandonment occurs under several circumstances. The most common reason is when the USPTO does not receive a response to an Office Action letter from an applicant within 6 months from the date the Office action letter was mailed. Another instance is when the USPTO does not receive a Statement of Use (or request for an extension of time to file a statement of use) from an applicant within 6 months from the issuance of a Notice of Allowance). Applications abandoned for failure to respond to an Office Action or a Notice of Allowance can be revived or reinstated in certain circumstances. For more information, see Petition to Revive and Request for Reinstatement.
Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
When a parent leaves a child without enough care, supervision, support, or parental contact for an excessive period of time.
Source: California Courts.
