Research On Claim Construction Rules In Patent Confirmation Procedure

The claims is a vector of a patent technical scheme,which describes the minimum technical unit capable of expressing technical means and is at the core position of a patent system.Since the words are carriers of the claims,the uncertainty of language and the writing defects of writers will inevitably lead to unclear claims,and further the claims need to be clarified by the claim interpretation in order to comply with the substantial contribution of the invention.The principle of claim interpretation and the current rules in judicial practice are analyzed in detail,and through research,the Supreme People's Court applies the rule of ' broadest reasonable interpretation standard ' in the patent right-determining stage and forms a guide case.The patent reexamination board determines the rule of claim interpretation of ' common meaning + specific meaning '.Due to the design of the "dual system" in the right-confirming program,the differences between the court and the Patent Reexamination Board's rules for claim interpretation result in different judgment results for the same patent document,this division of labor may lead to an infinite loop of administrative proceedings for patent confirmation.Establishing clear claims interpretation rules in the right confirmation procedure can ensure patent quality,stabilize patent rights,and reduce circular litigation.This article proposes the following perfect suggestions:Aiming at the problem that the amendment of the claims in the right confirmation procedure is subject to many restrictions and should not apply the ‘broadest reasonable interpretation standard',it is recommended to adopt a rule for claim interpretation that fits the right confirmation procedure to examine whether the authorization is correct,and construct a ‘Plain and Ordinary Meaning' rule that complies with the principle of claim interpretation.For the understanding of the terms in the claims,first of all,the ordinary meaning in the art for those skilled in the art is used,and if there is a special limitation in the instruction,the limitation of the instruction is adopted;the claims should be construed to meet the objectives of the invention;the patent claims themselves,the specification and drawings,examination of the historical files and other internal evidence can be used to determine the meaning of the terms in the claims;external evidence such as expert testimony,inventor testimony,dictionary,paper and the like can also help to explain the claims when the true meaning of the claims cannot be determined after reading the claims and referring to the internal evidence.In order to solve the problem of imperfect legislation related to the interpretation of the claims,it is proposed to amend the Regulations for the Implementation of the Patent Law as a supplement to the Patent Law,to ensure the formation of a complete legal system,thereby enhancing the predictability of the field of patent law and avoidingAiming at the problem of 'cyclic litigation' caused by inconsistent claim interpretation rules adopted by a court and a patent review committee under a binary system,the method proposes to unify the claim interpretation rules adopted by two departments into ‘Plain and Ordinary Meaning' rules.On this basis,a final system for the Supreme People's Court is constructed to make a directly decide on patent validity.Through the above suggestions,we hope to better balance the interests of the public and patentees.