The Growing Importance of the Claim Vitiation Defense in Patent Cases (Part 1 of 2)

摘要

The Federal Circuit continues to try to develop a coherent theory of claim construction in patent cases. The court's en banc decision in Phillips v. AWH Corp. strives to give an overview of the relevant principles of claim construction, though the dissent suggests that the court did nothing more than "rearrang[e] the deck chairs on the Titanic." Whether or not this decision accomplishes its objective of clarifying the legal landscape on claim construction, litigants will continue to litigate the meaning of claims, resulting in winners and losers in literal claim scope.