A patent is a copyright granted to inventions and it’s an exclusive right for a specific time frame given by the state to the patent owner in return for the disclosing of one‘s invention. A new product or system of invention that has an original creation which is also proficient in commercial uses can be patented.
Claims are the segments of a patent which measure the extent of patent rights. Patent claims assist as the legal justification for patentability. They create a preventative demarcation line around the patent, notifying others when they intrude on patent rights. The terms and phrasing of claims define the scope of this line.
A patent claim’s purpose in an invention is to determine the scope of what is claimed as the invention. When a patent application is granted, the granted claim determines the scope of intellectual property rights provided by the patent. Anyone who breaches any of the patent claims is subject to liability for patent infringement losses and may be refrained from competing with patentees.
Categories of Patent Claims
Independent claims are also known as ‘unattached’ claims. This means that they make no reference to or relate to any other claim (s). A preamble, as well as all the elements required to establish and describe the invention, are included in independent claims.
Ordinarily, the initial claim is an independent claim that establishes a premise for the protection pursued by the invention. To discourage would-be infringers from bypassing the independent claim, independent claims are commonly wider in scope than dependent claims.
Independent claims are typically classified into three types:
- Demand for something
- Claim for a method of producing something
- Claim for a method of doing something
Dependent claims limit their scope by making reference to a prior or independent claim. Dependent claims limit the scope of a prior claim. Besides, dependent claims enhance the protection desired for an invention.
Furthermore, dependent claims may include numerous different non-essential attributes, as well as relatively insignificant characteristics and entirely voluntary features which are not defined in the independent claim.
Considerations When Writing Your Claims
There are three criteria that must be followed when writing your claims: they must be transparent, complete, and fully endorsed. Every claim needs to be in one sentence, regardless of how long or short it is.
One’s claim should always be transparent such that the viewer will not have any struggles interpreting it. When you use words like “thin,” “strong,” “a major part,” or “such as,” it is assumed that you are not clear. These words cause the reader to make a subjective evaluation instead of an objective observation.
All claims have to be detailed in order to cover the innovative characteristic as well as enough details to situate the inventions in context.
The claims must always be justified by providing explanations. It means that all of the features of your innovations that make up your claim should be fully described. If any terms are being used in claims, those should be identified in the explanation or eliminated from the description of claims.
How Many Claims Are Allowed in a Patent?
One may simply guarantee that certain claims succeed although others fail by constructing a sequence of claims with varying terminology and scope, ensuring that anyone who wants to use the technology instead tends to end up wading a legal issue.
To accomplish this, the patent claims must include following:
A balance of wide and narrow claims, with different degrees of width in between. This makes it more difficult for a competitor to challenge your entire patent at the same time.
Multiple claims that define the same subject in different ways. If one phrasing is confusing, you’ll still have claims with a different phrasing.
Claims for procedures, systems, and devices. Different claim groups may identify an invention differently, making it applicable to a variety of contexts.
Although experts recommend using a variety of claims in the patent applications, the number of claims one uses will ultimately be determined by the innovation you’re patenting and your available resources. Please consult a certified patent consultant for assistance.
Patent Claim Charts
A patent claim chart can be in tabular or graphical format and is often used in patent infringement lawsuits in the United States. A claim chart is a visual representation of all the data analyzed in a patent claim. A claim chart is used to determine whether or not there has been any infringement.
Example of Patent Claims
- A real-life example of a Tesla Motors claim:
“A thermal management system for battery packs, comprising: a manifold; a plurality of temperature monitoring devices attached to a plurality of cells of the battery packs; a battery monitor board connected to said temperature monitoring devices; a plurality of cooling tubes connected to said manifold; a tube seal plug arranged over an end of said cooling tube; and an end fitting arranged on said end of said cooling tube.”
- Sewing Process:
A method for connecting two pieces of fabric along their edges that includes the following steps:
(a) producing said two pieces of fabric and attaching them together so that one piece’s edge portion overlaps an adjacent piece’s edge portion,
and
(b) passing a thread in sequentially different directions through and along the length of the overlapping fabric, as well as through consecutively spaced pores in said overlapped adjacent portions.
Along said edge parts, said two pieces of cloth will be joined.
- Pharmaceuticals
Preparing a wet granulation in which a compound of formula; ##ABC10##, wherein X is a number ranging from about zero to five, and the individual optical isomers thereof, a diluent, and an inert gas are mixed with a solution of a binding agent; screening the wet granulation, drying the wet granulation, and screening the dry granulation.
- Baking
A method of making a circular chiffon cake, comprising: preparing a dough comprising a starch, a fat, and a sugar, wherein said batter has a moisture content before baking of from about 12% to about 19% by weight of the cake.