Patent Claim

Patent Claim Construction

This topic is designed to provide students and readers of this Legal Encyclopedia with a strong interest in patent law with an introduction to the field and an opportunity to participate in a research project on claim construction.

Patent claims are central to the operation of the patent system. They delineate the boundaries of the patented invention. Thus, they play a critical role in evaluation of infringement and validity and can affect or determine the outcome of other significant issues such as unenforceability and remedies. Patent prosecutors, litigators, and transactional attorneys must become masters of claim construction.

This topic comprises three components: (1) a survey of patent law; (2) an in-depth analysis of claim construction doctrine; and (3) the evaluation and coding of Federal Circuit claim construction decisions so as to create a rich database for further research. The first five weeks of the topic will be conducted as a conventional lecture topic. It will then transition into a research topic in which students and readers of this Legal Encyclopedia apply a detailed claim construction framework to the evaluation of Federal Circuit claim construction decisions.