Understanding "Patentese"—A Patent Glossary

Posted by: Mark4321 on August 19, 2008 05:17PM

All too frequently, intellectual property attorneys use patent jargon and, as a result, others are unable to understand. To reduce potential confusion, the following glossary provides general definitions of a number of frequently used patent terms with a view toward aiding in the comprehension of such terms. As space limitations preclude full delineation of all meanings, the definitions that follow should be regarded as providing accurate, but not exhaustive, meanings of the terms. Italicized words represent terms that are defined elsewhere in the glossary.

A PATENT GLOSSARY

Active Inducement to Infringe: One may be held liable for patent infringement as a result of actively encouraging another to infringe if such other does infringe, even though the inducer has not made, used, sold, offered for sale, or imported the patented invention.

Apparatus Claim: This refers to a patent claim, which describes structurally a piece of equipment and is embraced by the expression "machine" in the definition of patentable subject matter in the U.S. Patent Statute.

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