2/12/2008

靜態用語及動態用語

Patently-O

Claimed "Insert" Limitation Creates Product by Process

“insert(插入物)” 解釋成“用以插入的物”

On appeal, the CAFC agreed with Miken that the insert limitation required an element that was “put or fit into something else.” Consequently, Miken’s products cannot infringe because the accused structural members were never “inserted or intended for insertion.”

因此,不能解釋成“內部結構元件”“多牆結構”。

 

Miken Composites v. Wilson Sporting Goods (Fed. Cir. 2008)

To contend, however, as Wilson does, that it does not matter whether an insert is placed into a pre-existing frame or whether a frame is built around it ignores that ordinary and customary meaning, notwithstanding Wilson’s attempts to categorize the term “insert” as “purely structural.” The issue would have been different if the claims contained the language argued in Wilson’s briefs; to wit, “internal structural member,” Wilson Br. at 31, 38, or “multi-wall product,” Reply Br. at 3, but they do not. It is the language of the claims not the argument that governs.

心得:

標的為物之Claim中,所使用的語言,最好儘量使用靜態用語及結構性的用語,少使用具有動詞暗示性的用語。

使用動態用語或動詞暗示性的用語,很有可能會被解釋成Product by Process的claim,雖然判決中法官說不是Product by Process而是功能代表結構的用語,但我怎麼看怎麼讀都覺得是滿像Product by Process。

As for Wilson’s contention that the district court impermissibly imported a process limitation into a product claim, we disagree. As we have discussed, the district court merely adopted an ordinary meaning of the term “insert.” Summary Judgment Opinion at 11. That this ordinary meaning has functional attributes does not change the fact that the claim recites a structural component, albeit one possessed with certain understood characteristics.

2/04/2008

Doctrine of Full Scope Enablement 致能整個請求範圍

CAFC Continues to Expand Doctrine of Full Scope Enablement

When analyzing enablement, the court looks to ensure that the “full scope of the invention” is enabled — and thus looking beyond whether the particular accused design is enabled.

對致能要件進行分析時,法院在確認特定之被控侵權設計是否“被致能”前,應先確認整個發明的範圍是否被致能。

However, the “full scope” doctrine has serious deficiencies. The most notable are the potentially chaotic results from applying the doctrine to claims that include the comprising transition language.  The problem arises because the comprising transition allows a claim implicitly encompass a wide variety of add on limitations that might be found in an infringing device. See, for example Automotive Technologies Int’l v. BMW (Fed. Cir. 2007) (claim scope that implicitly covered both mechanical and electrical sensor was not enabled by description of mechanical sensor); Liebel-Flarsheim v. Medrad (Fed. Cir. 2007) (claim scope that implicitly covered both jacketed and jacket-free needle holders was not enabled by description of jacketed needle holders).

最值得注意的是,將此條原則(Doctrine of Full Scope Enablement)應用於包含開放式連接詞comprising的請求項時,會導致潛在的混亂。此問題的產生原因在於,開放式連接詞允許請求項暗示地包含各種多樣的附加限制條件,而能夠於侵權物中找到該些限制條件。

 

心得:

  • 在寫說明書時,應該小心使用comprising.
  • 專利權人在進行解譯申請專利範圍時,應該小心解譯後的“整個”權利範圍,是否能被說明書所支持。
  • 強化附屬項,即多寫幾個看似無用的附屬項。 例如,於Automotive Technologies Int’l v. BMW 一案中,獨立項寫sensor附屬項寫mechanical sensor。看到這種判例,才會覺得附屬項的重要性。

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http://www.agc.co.jp/news/2002/0401.html

"Look Beyond"には、グループのスローガンとして、「将来を見据え」「自らの領域を超えた視点を持ち」「現状に満足せず飽くなき革新を追求する」などの意味が込められています。

http://eow.alc.co.jp/look%20beyond/UTF-8/

look beyond
~の先を思い描く(在想…之前,先……。)
・Try to look beyond the 21st century. : 21世紀より先を思い描いてごらん。

is enabled 被致能

這個詞真的很難翻譯,翻長一點會比較通順一點,即「說明書的揭露是否能夠使此行業者能夠具以實施」,此行業者是學習日文的「当業者」更正確的用語為「於此領域具有通常知識者」。

專利這行業要求用語使用正確又精簡,難!