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Difference between revisions of "How to read patents"

(What to look for: the claims: ===Dependent and independent claims=== There might be ten or a hundred claims. Most of these will be "''dependent''" claims which claim something in addition to a)
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==External links==
 
==External links==

Revision as of 07:42, 10 August 2010

When reading patents, the most important part of a patent are the "claims". These are the ideas that are covered by the patent. It's a common mistake to read the abstract as a summary - it is not a summary. The abstract just describes the domain in which the claims are situated.

What to look for: the claims

The claims are not easy to find, look for a numbered list, introduced usually by either:

  • What we claim is
  • What is claimed is

Dependent and independent claims

There might be ten or a hundred claims. Most of these will be "dependent" claims which claim something in addition to a previous claim. For example:

  1. A box that makes noises;
  2. A box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said noises resemble a monster
  3. A box as claimed in claim 2, wherein said monster noises are scary
  4. A box as claimed in claim 1, wherein a toy monster sits

Here, claims 2, 3, and 4 are dependent claims. Claim #1 is an "independent" claim. This is important because if the independent claims don't cover software ideas, then the dependent claims can't cover software ideas. So, to determine if a patent is a software patent or not, you only have to read the independent claims.

(HELP: We need references to confirm (or correct) this explanation.)

How to spot "software" claims

Patents can include claims on a mix of software and hardware ideas. When we say "hardware ideas", we mean claims that can only by infringed by making or distributing hardware. Here are example(s) of keywords that indicate that a claim might cover an idea which a software developer or software distributor might use:

  • A method for... (at least in the USA)

Related pages on ESP Wiki

External links