''Inter partes'',

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for "between the parties",Duhaime Legal Dictionary
Accessed July 3, 2008. is a law term that can be distinguished from

in rem ''In rem'' jurisdiction ("power about or against 'the thing) is a legal term describing the power a court may exercise over property (either real or personal) or a "status" against a person over whom the court does not have ''in personam'' jurisd ...

, which refers to a legal action whose jurisdiction is based on the control of property, or

ex parte In law, ''ex parte'' () is a Latin term meaning literally "from/out of the party/faction of" (name of party/faction, often omitted), thus signifying "on behalf of (name)". An ''ex parte'' decision is one decided by a judge without requiring all ...

, which refers to a legal action that is by a single party.

Lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

s (or actions in executive agencies) in which all interested parties have been served with adequate notices and are given a reasonable opportunity to attend and to be heard are referred to as ''inter partes'' proceedings or hearings. When a judgment is given, subject to any right of appeal, it would be inconvenient if the same issues could be endlessly relitigated by the same parties and so they are all bound by the result. However, anyone who was not a party to those proceedings and can demonstrate a legitimate interest in reopening the issue is entitled to petition the

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...

for the right to be heard. However, in some circumstances, the judgment is given ''in rem'' and so binds everyone, whether a party to the case or not.

Contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

s can also be said to be ''inter partes'' and various laws can be relied upon to create and vest rights that exist only on an ''inter partes'' basis; they do not attach as an attribute to a person's

status Status (Latin plural: ''statūs''), is a state, condition, or situation, and may refer to: * Status (law) ** City status ** Legal status, in law ** Political status, in international law ** Small entity status, in patent law ** Status confere ...

and so become ''in rem'' rights.

Examples

Opposition procedure before the European Patent Office The opposition procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) is a post-grant, contentious, ''inter partes'', administrative procedure intended to allow any European patent to be centrally opposed. European patents granted by the EPO under t ...

Interference proceeding An interference proceeding, also known as a priority contest, is an inter partes proceeding to determine the priority issues of multiple patent applications. It is a proceeding unique to the patent law of the United States. Unlike in most other c ...

(US patent law) * ''Inter partes'' reexamination in US patent law *

Inter partes review An inter partes review (IPR) is a procedure for challenging the validity of a United States patent before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. History The inter partes review procedure was enacted on September 16, 2012 as part of the Ame ...

(U.S. patent law) * Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Petitions

References

Latin legal terminology {{Latin-legal-phrase-stub

Examples

See also

References