User:Doctor Whom/Sandbox/Doctrine of claim differentiation
In United States patent law, the doctrine of claim differentiation is a doctrine used to interpret patent claims. The doctrine holds that "different words or phrases used in separate claims are presumed to indicate that the claims have different meanings and scope."[1] It is often used to raise a presumption that an independent claim is broader than a claim dependent therefrom, to avoid a narrow interpretation of the independent claim to say otherwise.[2]
Under 35 U.S.C. § 112(d) and its predecessor statutes, "a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed."
The presumption is typically rebutted by showing that a claim, when read in light of the specification and the prosecution history, necessarily includes the limitation that it is argued not to have.[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Anderson Corp. v. Fiber Composites, LLC, 474 F.3d 1361, 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2007).
- ^ Claim Interpretation Under the Doctrine of Claim Differentiation