Use of Term Definitions in Patent Application

Patent draftsmen are well advised to keep in mind the ultimate purpose of their craft: to allow the patent holder to assert the patent rights against potential infringers, irrespective of whether the ultimate goal is to prevent that party from making, using, selling or importing the claimed subject matter, or to generate revenue or other remuneration for the patent owner through licensing or some other transfer of intellectual property rights.

As the Federal Circuit often reminds us, a determination of patent infringement involves a two-step process: interpretation or construction of the pertinent patent claims to define their scope of coverage; and determination of whether the properly construed patent claims encompass the accused device or service.¹ Only claims of a patent can be infringed. Neither the specification, which includes the written description of the invention, nor the drawings accompanying the specification, can be infringed.² Thus, construction of a claim is