The following case illustrates the difficulty in being able to predict the outcome of patent litigation.  It also provides hints at improving ones patent drafting technique.  During patent litigation, the claim terms are construed in light of (1) the plain meaning of the terms, (2) the specification and (3) the prosecution history among other things. [...]

  Claim drafting is one of the harder aspects of preparing a patent application.  The reason is that the patent attorney must balance broad claim langauge and avoiding the prior art.  A broad claim is desireable because competitors will have difficulty designing around your patent, should one issue.  However, broader claims are also subject to [...]

In a patent, broader claims are generally more desireable.  However, the breadth of the claim must be balanced with its validity.  If the claim is too broad, then the courts will hold that the claimed invention is anticipated by the prior art or an obvious variant of the prior art.  If the claim is too [...]

To be liable for patent infringement, a “single” entity must sell a product or perform all of the steps of a claim in a patent. If “two” different parties provide different components or different steps of the patented product or method, then there is no liability unless one party control or directs the other party. [...]

The claims section of a patent defines the metes and bounds of what the inventor is claiming as their invention.  As such, the claims section is an important part of the patent. The claim set is the most difficult section of the patent to draft because it is always a balancing act between breadth and [...]

Continuation, divisional and continuation-in-part (CIP) applications are related to the filing of the prior filed patent application by a claim of priority.  The prior filed patent application may be referred to as the parent or base application.  The continuation, divisional and CIP application may be referred to as the child application. The simplified definition for [...]