Glossary of public records and monitoring terms
The words that show up in tenders, trademark files, court dockets, and licensing rules, defined without the jargon. Each term links to the monitor that watches it.
Addendum
A formal change to a published tender, issued as a document or notice. Addenda can move deadlines, revise specifications, or replace required forms. Miss one and a compliant bid can become non-compliant.
Related: Tender alerts
Notice of allowance
The USPTO notice that an intent-to-use application has passed examination and is ready for registration once you file a statement of use. It starts a six-month clock.
Related: Trademark deadline calculator
Statement of use
The filing that shows your mark is actually in use in commerce, required before an intent-to-use application can register. Due within six months of the notice of allowance, extendable in six-month increments up to thirty-six months.
Related: Trademark deadline calculator
Opposition window
The thirty days after a mark is published in the Official Gazette, during which anyone who would be damaged can oppose registration. Extensions can push the deadline to as long as 180 days from publication.
Related: Trademark deadline calculator Patent and trademark watch
CE hours
Continuing education hours a licensed professional must complete to renew. Requirements are set board by board, and boards change them without much fanfare.
Related: Licensing and rule changes
Certificate transparency
Public logs of every TLS certificate issued. New entries often reveal subdomains, staging systems, and lookalike domains before anything else does.
Docket
The official record of a court case: every filing, order, and deadline. Federal dockets live in PACER; state systems vary from modern APIs to scanned PDFs.
Related: Docket monitoring
PACER and RECAP
PACER is the federal courts' paid access system. RECAP is CourtListener's free mirror of documents users contribute. Checking RECAP first is the standard way to avoid PACER fees.
Related: Docket monitoring PACER cost guide
NAICS code
The North American Industry Classification System code that describes what a business does. Government buyers use NAICS to categorize opportunities, which makes it the first filter for tender alerts.
Related: Tender alerts
CPV code
Common Procurement Vocabulary, the European Union's classification system for public contracts. The EU equivalent of NAICS when you filter EU TED notices.
Related: Tender alerts
Amazon Brand Registry
Amazon's program for brand owners, giving you listing tools and the enforcement path for counterfeits. Enforcement without enrollment is slower and weaker.
Related: Brand protection
Trigger event
A public event that signals a likely purchase or action: a building permit, a probate filing, a new business registration, a liquor license. The value is in the timing.
Related: Permit and trigger event leads
Probate filing
A court record opened when someone dies with an estate to administer. Public in most states, restricted in some, and often the earliest signal that a property will change hands.
Prima facie abandonment
Three consecutive years of nonuse is prima facie evidence of trademark abandonment under 15 U.S.C. 1127, shifting the burden to the owner to show intent to resume use.
Related: Abandoned trademarks guide
DOI bulletin
A notice from a state department of insurance covering filing deadlines, form requirements, and rate changes for policy forms.
Related: Licensing and rule changes
Change intelligence
Our shorthand for the category: watching public sources for the moment they change, then delivering the diff with enough context to act on it. Not search, and not alerts for their own sake.
Related: All monitors How it works
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