En Banc Federal Circuit Concludes Patent Specification, not the Dictionary, is the Best Source for Claim Interpretation

On July 12, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its en banc decision in Phillips v. AWH Corp., Case Nos. 03-1269, -1286. The majority opinion, authored by Circuit Judge Bryson, (dissent by Judge Mayer) touched on most of the issues identified by the Court in its en banc order. The only en banc issue the Court expressly declined to address was whether it should accord any deference to trial court claim construction rulings. Thus, by default, the Court maintained its present practice of giving no deference to district court claim construction rulings. Indeed, it was this refusal to accord deference to the more fact-like claim construction inquiries that prompted Judges Mayer and Newman to dissent.