

How to read a patent in 60 seconds - danshapiro
http://www.danshapiro.com/blog/2010/09/how-to-read-a-patent-in-60-second/

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yagibear
How to read the article in 5 seconds: Read the independent claims.

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danshapiro
Ha! But I must disagree. If you're time's short, I would recommend just
basking in the majesty of the Sammy Hagar patent cover page.

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hristov
I don't really agree. Yes in some respects and for some purposes the
independent claims are the most important parts of a patent, but reading only
the independent claims is very different from reading a patent.

The specification and drawings are important as they, among other things,
define the meaning of the claims. Usually, if you just skip ahead to the
independent claims you will have no idea what the claims are talking about.
This is especially true in the electronics/software/online arts where people
tend to make up their terminology as they go along.

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danshapiro
There's a great comment on the article itself by a Max Kennerly, who appears
to be a practicing attorney. He cites a Federal Circuit court opinion that
basically says - yes, the claims must and do stand alone. You're quite right
that if you know nothing about the patent you may be lost in the claims, but
from a legal standpoint, they should be sufficient. And more practically, if
you come to the patent knowing a lot about the field, you'll usually get a
very good sense of the thing from the claims alone.

And if you've only got a minute, you're time will be far better spent in the
claims than in the abstract, description, or title, which is what most people
do!

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hristov
I am also a practicing patent attorney, and the case Mr. Kennerly cites to is
the well known Phillips case. In any event, that case says that claim terms
can be defined by the specification.

I agree that if you have a minute only and you are worried about infringement
it may be a good idea to start from the independent claims. But you should not
fool yourself that you have read the whole patent. Because if you only read
the claims, and even if you think you understand the claims perfectly you can
be in for a nasty surprise if you do not read the spec.

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tkeller
Also important: understanding the difference between a patent _application_
and an actual issued patent. The rule of thumb is that if it has a number in
the millions, like 6,123,456, then it's a patent. If it starts with a year,
like 2008/1234567, then it's an application. The slash may or may not be
omitted.

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bryanh
A good chunk of advice for the dirty, messy world that is patents.

Unrelated: its very cool to randomly stumble upon someone using a theme I
compiled: [http://midmodesign.com/news/general/our-special-wordpress-
th...](http://midmodesign.com/news/general/our-special-wordpress-theme/) :-)

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pontifier
This approach does seem to cut to the heart of the matter... I have had a
patent in the system for a while, and just to reassure myself, I read just the
independent claims.

While reviewing my patent I have always become worn out by the time I get to
reviewing the claims so I have always been a little wary of them (especially
because I am used to being as precise as I can, but claims are written to be
interpreted broadly).

Sure enough, when I looked this time, the claims spoke loudly to me. What
needs to be there is there in the independent claims.

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troels
So. How would I identify the independent claims?

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yanowitz
They are the claims that don't reference other claims. All the claims are
bundled together towards the end of a patent.

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noonespecial
It is a little disturbing that the "code" of a patent (the claims) only takes
about 30 seconds to read and the rest of the ream of paper is just comments
and/or obfuscation. (Most likely the latter.)

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hristov
Don't worry, that is not really true.

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ajb
Nevertheless, from the description you give to a lawyer to the final patent,
there is both a notable expansion factor and a large drop in
comprehensability. Last time I had to do this, the expansion factor was 10,
although I think that's above average.

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hristov
If there is a drop in comprehensibility, then you probably need a better
patent attorney. Patent applications should be as clear as possible.

Regarding expansion, this is sometimes necessary. A good patent lawyer may
need to add a lot of material to your description. There are many possible
reasons for that: for example, you may be so advanced in your field that
things that may seem obvious to you are actually pretty complex and must be
described in more detail. Or if you have defined your invention too narrowly,
a good patent lawyer will describe your invention in different scopes (both
broadly and narrowly) and think of all kinds of different fields and
applications for your invention, thus ensuring you get a better value out of
your patent.

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rudyfink
Also, remember that the meaning of the words and phrases in the independent
claims are subject to intense debate.

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scorpion032
One other way: Post it to reddit denouncing it based on the title and read the
top comment.

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joshzayin
> Someone’s claiming you’re infringing your patent!

Uh...good luck with that.

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RonDiver
If you infringe the baby, you'll infringe the baby momma too.

