PATENT LAW


specifi cation into the claims (Van Geuns, 26 USPQ2d 1057, 1059, Fed. Cir. 1993). T is diff ers from a district court setting,


where the specifi cation is not simply referred to as guidance but has more force, and especially where expert witnesses can argue the meaning of a claim and the judge may use other extrinsic evidence such as technical defi nitions to construe the patent claims narrowly (and preserve validity). Another tricky part of using BRI is that the claim construction can be broawd but


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unreasonable as understood by the skilled artisan—see, for example, Kevin Imes, 113 USPQ2d 1522, Fed. Cir. 2015. Criticism of BRI has been heavy since


the America Invents Act was passed (even the American


Association sent


Intellectual Property Law similar comments on


October 16, 2014 to the USPTO’s deputy director Michelle Lee). In particular, with so few motions to amend patents actually being granted (three at the time of writing), the fi rst reason for using BRI falls short.


Further, the USPTO has warned that if the


claims are substantially changed (where the proposed substitute claim has to be traceable to the challenged claim), the patent owner can pursue such claims in another USPTO proceeding such as an ex parte re-examination, thereby limiting the options during an IPR or CBM even more so.


Reform agenda Congress has been fl oating some bills for patent reform. T e latest, the Support Technology and


World Intellectual Property Review May/June 2015 49


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