restriction
Restriction is any limitation on activity, by statute, regulation, contract provision, or in a conveyance. However, individuals or entities seeking restrictions may be limited in what they can restrict. For example, a legislature cannot pass a statute restricting activity that violates that jurisdiction’s constitution. Also, individuals seeking to restrict a real property conveyance through a restraint on alienation may also be limited, as courts tend to view restraints on alienation as a violation of public policy. See: Shelby v. Kramer and Gangemi v. Zoning Board of Appeals.
In intellectual property law, restriction is the requirement that a patent applicant select one "single claimed invention (e.g., a combination or subcombination invention, a product or process invention, a species within a genus), for examination when two or more independent inventions and/or two or more distinct inventions are claimed in an application.” See: USPTO Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) § 821 - Treatment of Claims Held To Be Drawn to Nonelected Inventions.
Restriction will often result in a rejoinder, which is the process of withdrawing a restriction requirement between an allowable elected invention and a nonelected invention, and the examination of the formerly nonelected invention on the merits.
[Last reviewed in April of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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