Context And Relationships Among Claim Elements In Patents

A claim in a patent application or issued patent should express not only the building blocks of an invention but also the relationships among the building blocks.  Understanding and expressing these relationships clearly in a claim is vital for all types of claims.  Without the relationships, claims would merely express an unorganized set of elements, such as building blocks.  As an analogy, compare a pile of bricks, cinderblocks, steel girders or lumber to a finished building.  A claim set without relationships among the elements would be comparable to a list of construction materials.  A claim set with relationships among the elements would be comparable to an architectural set of building plans.  Continuing with the analogy, the specification would provide a description of the building, giving context to the claim elements.  Likewise, the entirety of the claims gives context to each of the claim elements.