Terminal disclaimers may be used to overcome double patenting rejections. Commonly owned applications of different inventive entities may be rejected on the grounds of double patenting. These types of rejections keep an individual or organization from obtaining two or more patents with different expiration dates that cover nearly identical subject matter.

Terminal disclaimers are statements filed by an owner of a patent or application that will shorten a portion of the patent term for all the claims of a patent. The applicant gives up the portion of the patent grant that extends beyond the expiration date of the other patent.