Ambiguous Claim Terms May Soon Be Construed Against The Drafter

Addressing claim construction of a term with disputed grammar, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed in part the district court's construction and remanded the case, explaining that grammatical rules give way to the written description when construing claims. 3M Innovative Properties Co. v. Tredegar Corp., Case No. 12-1241 (Fed. Cir., August 6, 2013) (Reyna, J.) (Plager, J. concurring) (O'Malley, J. concurring-in-part, dissenting-in-part).

3M sued Tredegar Corp. for infringement of patents directed to multi-layer elastomeric laminates. Such laminates may be found in the body-hugging areas of products such as the waistband or side tabs of disposable diapers. Tredegar is a supplier of breathable and nonwoven film laminates for personal care products.