Why element-by-element inquiry ?

出自中國的一篇文章：
How to interpret a patent claim is a key issue in deciding whether an infringement of the patent occurred there. When the Federal Circuit decided Hilton Davis Chemical Co., v. Warner Jenkinson Co., 62 F. 3d 1512, (Fed. Cir. 1995), it used "insubstantial difference" test to decide whether the accused product or process infringed the patented product or process. That is, if the accused product or process as a whole is the same one as the product or process covered by the patent, there is an infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, otherwise there is no infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. However, this is more close to the central claiming principle in interpretation of a patent claim, which is contrary to the peripheral claiming principle used by U. S. courts for a long period.

As a whole下適用均等論的話，較接近中心限定主義。然而這與美國法院長期使用之周邊限定主義衝突。