The changing meaning of patent claim terms.

Michigan Law Review, October, 2005 by Lemley, Mark A.

 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
  I. PRINCIPLES OF CLAIM CONSTRUCTION 
     A. Situating the Meaning of Claim Terms in Time 
        1. Novelty and Nonobviousness 
        2. Enablement and Written Description 
        3. Means-Plus-Function Claims 
        4. Infringement 
     B. Defining Patent Claims Consistently 
 II.    CHOOSING BETWEEN THE APPROACHES 
     A. Justifying Unified Claim Construction 
     B. Selecting a Time for Determining Claim Meaning 
     C. The Scope of Patents Under a Filing-Date Standard 
III. CONCLUSION 

Dictionaries are word museums. Like archaeologists at a dig, lexicographers mine the language through the eons for patterns of usage. Language evolves, and yesterday's meaning may disguise today's nuance. (1)

The claims of a patent are...

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