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Linguistics And Claim Construction, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga
Linguistics And Claim Construction, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga
Law Faculty Publications
This Article argues that patent claim construction should instead track the way in which we, as readers of a language, attempt to understand what is being conveyed via the written word. First, there is a base level of conventional understanding from which all interpretation starts, an understanding that either a priori exists based on our earlier encounters with the word or is obtained from a dictionary in cases in which we lack previous knowledge. Second, from this conventional understanding, we construct the actual meaning of the term based on a number of linguistic clues. These clues are both internal and …
Patent Law Viewed Through An Evidentiary Lens: The "Suggestion Test" As A Rule Of Evidence, Christopher A. Cotropia
Patent Law Viewed Through An Evidentiary Lens: The "Suggestion Test" As A Rule Of Evidence, Christopher A. Cotropia
Law Faculty Publications
The Federal Circuit's recent nonobviousness jurisprudence has been the subject of much criticism. Reports from the Federal Trade Commission and the National Research Council and a pending petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court all conclude that the Federal Circuit has improperly relaxed the nonobviousness standard. Most of this criticism focuses on the Federal Circuit's implementation of part of the nonobviousness inquiry - the suggestion test. The suggestion test queries whether a suggestion to make the invention existed before the invention's creation. The Federal Circuit allegedly requires a suggestion to come solely from prior art references. The court ignores other …