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patent specification

Consistency – No Longer The Hobgoblin Of Small Minds

Wed, 07/15/2009 - 11:16 — Paul Lerner

If a patent claim is indefinite, it is invalid. The key question, of course, is what constitutes indefiniteness. Well, patent draftspersons, rejoice. In a rare, precedential opinion, Ex parte Kenichi Miyazaki, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (USPTO BPAI) has decided that if a claim term is not used or defined in the specification, and the meaning of the term is not discernable, the claim is indefinite. Moreover, any inconsistency between a claim term and the patent specification may make the claim indefinite.

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