The Interpretation Of Patent Claim

Patent system is a system that about the right granting, invalidating andprotecting, which is created to encourage the invention and accelerate thedevelopment of science and technology by the country, of which the most important isto protect the patent right effectively. But what the system protects is a kind oftechnology scheme, differing from physical objects, and the scope it protects can’t beperceived directly. Therefore, the modern patent system sets up a patent claimmechanism to define the scope of the protection. However, it is crucial to interpret thepatent claim accurately and felicitously while we define the scope, because the claimwords are always obscure and directly put technical characteristics as its’ descriptionobject. This article will begin with a patent infringement case, according to relevanttheory of the patent claim interpretation; it also discusses the insufficiency, whichexists in the process of patent practice. This paper is divided into five parts exceptingthe conclusion:The first part is talked from the case introduction, judgment of the court, thefocus of the case, and explains that the interpretation of patent claim is important inthe judicial practice by the analysis of this patent infringement case, in order to leadthe issue I will discuss in the article. The case is a infringement dispute relating to apatent of“A Drug used for prevent calcium deficiency”, and it is ended after firstinstance, second instance, retrial procedure. Both of the results of first instance andsecond instance are that the thing charged with violations constitutes infringement,and just opinions in the case are different. The result of retrial is very different fromthe first and the second that which the thing charged with violations doesn’t constituteinfringement. This shows that it is important that the interpretation of patent claim isrightly interpreted to judge a case correctly.The second part is the overview of the patent claim interpretation. Firstly, Iintroduce the relevant concepts of patent claim, secondly discuss the nature of the claim, and then explain the purpose of the claim, furthermore introducethree-interpretation principles existed in history, finally introduce the subject forPatent Claim Interpretation.Before discussing Patent Claim Interpretation concretely, we must make clear themeaning of it. So, we can firstly make clear what is patent, then bring out theimplication of scope of patent protection, and finally conclude the meaning of patentclaim interpretation.In this part, the category of patent claim interpretation is concluded thoughcomparing it with explanation of laws and explanation of contracts. There are somesimilarities among patent claim interpretation, law interpretation and contractinterpretation, but they are different. And the conclusion is that patent claiminterpretation is a legal matter.I discuss the purpose of claims interpretation in two ways. On the one hand, it isin order to determine the scope of patent protection and judge patent infringement; onthe other hand, it is for balancing conflicts of interest between patentee and public,promoting patent system to run effectively and realizing the purpose of the patentsystem.In the part of Principles of Interpretation, I introduce three canons principlesonce existing in history. Doctrine of Peripheral Definition is antithetic to Doctrine ofCentral Definition, and both of them have a lot of malpractices. Principle ofMediocrity is the outcome that reconciles the contradictions of two products. Ourcountry also follows the Principle of Compromise.In the part of subject of interpretation, I firstly introduce the necessity of judgingthe role that interpretation personnel plays, then introduce that the role ofinterpretation personnel is ordinary technical staff in the art, and finally discuss themeaning that a ordinary technical staff in the art plays as a subject of interpretation.The third part is the data that the patent claim interpretation based on, includingpatent claim books, description and the appended drawings, patent review files, thewidely known technology and so on, of which the patent review files may alsoinvolve the application of the regret principle. Although all of above are foundations of interpretation, they have a good or bad classification. The claims is the primarybasis, and the extent of protection of the patent right for utility mode or inventionshall be decided by the terms of the claims. The description and the appendeddrawings are in auxiliary position which the conditions of using to explain claims arerestricted, and there are some situations that do not allowed to use them to explainclaims. The patent review files are secondary evidences; dictionary, encyclopedia andso on only play as references to understand of technical terms’ usual meanings of theclaim in the field.The fourth part is the claim interpretation methods, which mainly include twomethods: literal interpretation and equivalent interpretation. Literal interpretation is abasic method and using it to explain claims must be in accordance with the literalmeaning, but this method has great defects. Equivalence theory is a kind ofinfringement rules, but before the judgment of patent infringement, you must explainthe claims to determine the scope of patent protection. The court explains the claimsexpansively and allows the things charged with violations of not literal infringementbut substantial equivalence to attribute to claim coverage. From this perspective, thedoctrine of equivalents is an important claim interpretation rule. This paper discussesthe value of equivalent interpretation and how to judge the equivalent, finallydiscusses two kinds of limit to equivalent interpretation principle: the doctrine ofestoppel and defense of the existing technology.The fifth part is suggestions to the judicial practice. There are two aspects. Onthe one hand, claims interpretation can follow specific steps; on the other hand, thereare some questions must be taken note of in the interpretation process. The problemsthat need to be paid attention to are two points: one is that explain claims in the wayof one of ordinary skill in the art; another is that the interpretation process needs tograsp the explanatory consistency.