INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Patent family due diligence tree

This due diligence patent family tree distinguishes live and inactive branches from a common priority filing. It shows a PCT application, a granted US parent with pending and abandoned descendants, a granted EP case, a lapsed Canadian branch and a pending Japanese branch. The status labels help reviewers focus on potentially enforceable or still-prosecuting rights, while preserving the complete procedural family. The drawing does not establish ownership, enforceability, maintenance or claim overlap. Those issues require records and legal analysis. Use the tree as a triage aid for a transaction, freedom-to-operate review or portfolio cleanup. Pair it with a dated status search and an ownership review before conclusions are reached.

UPDATED 2026-09-24

TYPEOrgchart

EXAMPLEPatent family due diligence tree

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CASE ANALYSIS

Scenario

Patent due diligence

Key decisions

Status coverage: Label granted, pending, abandoned and lapsed branches.
US descendants: Keep continuations and divisionals under their parent.
Jurisdiction view: Put each national-phase case below the PCT.

When to reuse this

Use this to identify live and inactive branches before deeper legal review.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does abandoned mean?01

It means the application is no longer being prosecuted as an active application.

What does lapsed mean?02

It generally indicates that a granted right is no longer in force, often because a required action was not taken.

Is a family tree enough for due diligence?03

No. It is a visual starting point that must be checked against official records and legal analysis.

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