Claims Under The European Patent Convention - Rationale

Rationale

The EPC requires that the claims must be clear (i.e., for instance the claim wording cannot be obscure) and must define the matter for which protection is sought in terms of the technical features of the invention. The rationale behind this requirement is to ensure that the public is not left in any doubt as to which subject-matter is covered by a particular patent and which is not. The clarity requirement therefore plays an important role in providing legal certainty for third parties to determine whether they are infringing or could infringe a patent or not, so as in turn to be able to make the most informed economic decisions as possible (such as taking a license, designing around, refraining from entering a market, etc.).

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