Vol. VI The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review 2005

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Patents and Kollmorgen. After examining the policies underlying each, the paper concludes that

collateral estoppel should be available to claim construction orders in limited circumstances.

The section concludes with the exposition of a practical problem: due to the vagaries of

Markman hearing procedures, virtually any claim construction order is capable of being

characterized as tentative, thereby precluding collateral estoppel.