patch protocol question

I would like to know the correct protocol in order to make the maintainers job as easy as possible please. Once a patch has been reviewed and the review makes good points that mean the patch is invalid/unnecessary what is the protocol from then? Assuming one replies to the reviewer with thanks and acknowledging their points. Is it then protocol to state that you are not going to pursue the patch further? How do maintainers know to not bother any more with a patch? Similar question; if the last patch of a patch series is not needed should one resend another version without the last patch or is there an accepted protocol to signal this so that the maintainer only looks at merging the initial patches in the series. thanks, Tobin.