A more thorough explanation:

International Application Designating the United States

An international application that designates the United States for patent protection.

Example 1: A company based in Japan files an international patent application that designates the United States as one of the countries where they want to seek patent protection for their invention.

Example 2: An individual from Germany files an international patent application and designates the United States as one of the countries where they want to seek patent protection for their invention.

An international application designating the United States is a patent application filed by an individual or company from another country seeking patent protection in the United States. The examples illustrate how a foreign entity can file an international patent application and designate the United States as one of the countries where they want to seek patent protection for their invention.