The Textual Coherence Of Patent Claims-a Hallidayan Approach

Patent Claims play the most important role in getting the patent application approved and in getting the broadest protection, because the scope of patent rights is based on what are declared in the Claims. This thesis tends to explore the textual coherence of the Patent Claim from the functional perspective. The theoretical framework of this thesis adapts the Hallidayan cohesion theory, the textual function of his three meta-functions of language, and Hasan's notion of Generic Structural Potential.This thesis argues that the textual coherence of Patent Claims is mainly realized at macro and micro levels. The macro coherence is manifested through the generic structure of Patent Claims, Hasan's GSP theory is applied here; the micro coherence is manifested through the three textual components: the cohesive devices, the Thematic Structure, and the Information Structure.20 Patent Claims are collected for the analysis, the results of which demonstrate that Hallidayan Systemic Functional Linguistics is feasible in explaining the textual coherence of Patent Claims. The thesis can, in a sense, provide suggestions to these who want to patent oversees, helping them realize the importance of textual coherence of Patent Claims, and thus helping them write a successful Patent Claim.