WO
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Warrant Officer (US Marine Corps) |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Military, Law & Legal |
WO has two meanings. It stands for Warrant Officer (US Marine Corps) (US Marine Corps rank) or WIPO international publication prefix (intellectual property).
Meanings of WO at a glance
| # | WO stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Warrant Officer (US Marine Corps) | Military › US Marine Corps Rank |
| 2 | WIPO international publication prefix | Law & Legal › Intellectual Property |
1. Warrant Officer (US Marine Corps)
Military · US Marine Corps Rank Abbreviations
Marine Corps warrant rank at pay grade W-1, held by technical specialists selected from experienced enlisted Marines and appointed by warrant. Warrant officers lead in fields such as communications, maintenance, logistics, ordnance, intelligence and infantry weapons.
Example: WO Grant took charge of the battalion's communications platoon after leaving the enlisted ranks.
Promotion to Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CWO2) brings a commission. Infantry weapons officers, known as Marine Gunners, wear a bursting-bomb insignia on their collar. In the British RAF, WO is a separate senior enlisted rank, and in Army usage WO1 is the first warrant grade.
2. WIPO international publication prefix
Law & Legal · Intellectual Property Abbreviations
Prefix for international patent applications published by WIPO under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, as in WO 2020/123456. It identifies the international publication rather than any granted patent.
Example: The search revealed WO 2019/045678, published 18 months after the priority date.
PCT applications are published promptly after 18 months from the earliest priority date. Two-letter office codes follow the WIPO ST.3 standard, which also assigns US, EP and CN. A WO document never matures into a patent itself; protection depends on later national or regional grants.
Related abbreviations
More US Marine Corps rank abbreviations
- 1stLt – First Lieutenant (US Marine Corps)
- 1stSgt – First Sergeant (US Marine Corps)
- 2ndLt – Second Lieutenant (US Marine Corps)
- ACMC – Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
- BGen – Brigadier General (US Marine Corps)
- CAPT – Captain (US Navy and Coast Guard)
- CMC – Commandant of the Marine Corps
- COL – Colonel (US Army)
See all 25 US Marine Corps rank abbreviations →
More intellectual property abbreviations
- BRI – Broadest reasonable interpretation
- CBM – Covered business method review
- CC – Creative Commons
- CC BY – Creative Commons Attribution License
- CC0 – Creative Commons Zero
- CCB – Copyright Claims Board
- CIP – Continuation-in-part
- CNIPA – China National Intellectual Property Administration
See all 50 intellectual property abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.