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When a patent establishes a claim, and then says something like "Claim 19: The process of claim 18 further comprising overlaying a route line", does that mean t
by kj12345 16y ago
When a patent establishes a claim, and then says something like "Claim 19: The process of claim 18 further comprising overlaying a route line", does that mean the patent is narrowed to only things that include route lines, or does it still apply to systems with/without route lines? If it's not narrowed by the additional claims, what purpose do the additional claims serve?
- ScottBurson 16y agoThe benefit of multiple claims is separability. In your example, claim 18 might be found invalid, but claim 19, since it requires an additional element, might still be valid. On the other hand, claim 18 might not be invalidated, in which case the patent is broader (and therefore more valuable) than if it had included only claim 19.
- kj12345 16y agoInteresting, so the most broad claim that gets the most press might not end up being the one that "counts", but on the other hand when someone says you have to read the whole patent to know how narrow it is that's not necessarily true either, since the most broad claim could be ruled valid.
- nkurz 16y agoEach of the claims is independent and additional. They are made so that it is possible for the patent examiner to approve the patent claim by claim with a more narrow scope, rather than rejecting it as a whole. From the applicant's point of view, the best case is that all claims are approved, but the usual goal is to write a series of increasingly narrower claims so that at least something gets approved. If nothing is rejected, you probably have not made it broad enough. Having a more narrow scope may also determine in a law suit whether something is infringing: if you have an explicit claim, it's more clearly infringing.