5.5.4 Claim construction and claim types

Also in this Section:

• 5.5.1 Purpose of Construction
• 5.5.2 Considerations Relevant to Construction of the Specification
• 5.5.3 Rules of Construction for a Specification

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Sub-chapters:

• 5.5.4.1 The claims are construed as a legal document;
• 5.5.4.2 Presumption against redundancy;
• 5.5.4.3 Omnibus claims;
• 5.5.4.4 Swiss claims;
• 5.5.4.5 Product by process claims;
• 5.5.4.6 Parametric claims;
• 5.5.4.7 ‘For use in’, ‘when used’, and similar wording in claims;
• 5.5.4.8 ‘Comprises‘, ‘includes‘, ‘consists of‘, and ‘contains‘ in claims;
• 5.5.4.9 Reference numerals in claims;
• 5.5.4.10 Relative terms;
• 5.5.4.11 ‘Substantially‘, ‘about‘, and ‘generally’; and
• 5.5.4.12 Appended claims.

Purpose

The purpose of claim construction is to determine the scope of monopoly defined in the claim.

Generally, the approach is to first read the claims as a whole and then in respect to each claim:

• identify the features to which the claim is limited; and
• understand the meaning and scope of each feature of each claim.

The rules of construction of patent specifications (see 5.5.3 Rules of Construction) also apply to interpreting the scope of claims. Additional rules for construing claims are:

• the claims are construed as a legal document;
• there is a presumption against redundancy; and
• there are special considerations for certain types of claims and types of wording.