Details
- A unique, comprehensive thesaurus for claim construction terms
- Written by two experts with a wealth of experience in IP law and technology
- An excellent source of relevant cases tailored to the needs of those specifically interested in claim terms
Claim construction is a major phase of a patent litigation where the meaning and scope of the claims themselves - the invention - is determined by the court. The outcome of this definition phase is crucial to the respective infringement and invalidity positions of the parties. The Thesaurus of Claim Construction directs practitioners to cases-and in contrast to searches on more general electronic databases, only those cases-in which claim terms have previously been construed, and further to the sources of the evidence used by previous courts to construe the terms in dispute.
Readership: Patent litigators (in-house and law firm), IP lawyers, academics and government officials
- How to Use This Book
- Outline of the Law of Claim Construction
- List of Simple Terms
- Outline of the Law of Means Plus Function Elements
- List of Means Plus Function Terms
- List of Terms: No Construction Necessary
- List of Design Patent Constructions
- Appendix A: Index of Keywords in Context
- Appendix B: Table of Dictionary References
- Appendix C: Table of Cases
Robert L. Kahrl, Practice Leader, Jones Day intellectual property practice, and Stuart B. Soffer, Non-residential Fellow, Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society
Robert Kahrl is a practice leader of the Jones Day intellectual property practice. He specializes in litigation of cases involving issues of technological complexity. His recent work has been in the fields of semiconductors, electronic systems, and medical devices. Cases in which his appearances have been a matter of public record include the largest patent-related litigation ever conducted before the International Trade Commission involving 10 patents for various aspects of DRAM chips (In re Certain Dynamic Random Access Memories). He is the author of the treatise Patent Claim Construction(Aspen Law & Business 2001, supplemented annually). Stuart Soffer is a non-residential fellow of the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society, and is the president of IPriori, Inc., a consultancy on intellectual-property issues regarding software and the Internet, including media download and digital rights. He is frequently retained as a technical expert analyzing infringement/validity in patent litigation and also consults on IP development and commercialization.
"An indispensable reference book for anyone who litigates patent cases."
--Mark A. Lemley, William H. Neukom Professor, Stanford Law School
"Claim language and claim construction are probably the most frequently debated legal issues in patent prosecution and patent litigation respectively. This book offers an invaluable resource and desk reference for parties to those debates."
--Dennis Crouch, Associate Professor of Law, University of Missouri School of Law, Author of Patently
"People often compare patents to deeds, but the English language doesn't allow the boundaries of invention to be staked out so precisely. With almost every word in every claim open to dispute, claim interpretation can overwhelm the process. The Thesaurus of Claim Construction by Stuart Soffer and Robert Kahrl gives all stakeholders-lawyers, judges, patent owners, accused infringers and the public-a powerful tool to quickly access accepted definitions and point the way to useful references. Those who use it will save time and increase the odds of success in a patent litigation."
--James Pooley
Deputy Director General for Innovation and Technology
World Intellectual Property Organization
"I was both surprised and happy when Oxford Press sent me the completed 1,000 page volume. The book, co-authored by Robert Kahrl (author of Patent Claim Construction), includes over 7,000 claim terms that have been construed by courts over the past decade."
--Patently-O Blog
"They went through hundreds of cases, and pulled out all of the claim constructed terms, recasting them into an easy to read format...an excellent primer for those involved with litigation...a bargain for those facing claim construction, and wanting to get an understanding of how to define the claims in their case, or how others might try to define your terms. Any lawyer involved with a patent litigation case should read this book at least once."
--Internet Patent News Service (March 2011)
