PTAB's Precedential Decision Related To Broadest Reasonable Claim Construction

The claims are undoubtedly the most important part of a utility patent or patent application. The claim scope is extremely important in determining the validity of a patent claim and performing infringement analysis. How claim limitations are interpreted have a primary impact on the claim scope. During patent prosecution and in post-issuance patent challenge proceedings, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has used the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) standard in claim construction in light of the specification.

In April 2016, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) rendered an opinion, Ex parte Schulhauser, on an appeal taken from the final rejections of a U.S. patent application, where the BRI standard was applied in claim construction. On October 4, 2016, the opinion was made precedential by the PTAB as a decision involving the BRI of method claim steps as related to conditions precedent.