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A ìpatent claimî is a very formally-worded sentence fragment contained in a patent application or granted patent. Patent claims recite and define the scope of an invention in very precise, logical, and exact terms. They serve to determine whether a patent application is patentable over the prior art, or whether a granted patent is infringed. Claims are written in one of two forms, either "independent" or "dependent". Independent Claims An independent claim is a self-contained description of the invention. It has three parts:
For example, consider the following independent claim: Claim 1. (preamble) "A mousetrap .................. (transitional clause) comprising:
A dependent claim includes, by reference, everything set forth in a previous independent or dependent claim, and adds to or modifies the description of the previous claim(s). For example: Claim 2. (adding to the description) "A mousetrap according to claim 1, further comprising:
The above are examples of apparatus claims which describe a device or an article of manufacture. Claims can also be directed to processes, or methods. For example: Claim 4. A method of destroying mice, comprising:
Summary That's it for the basics:
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