Closed Transition
A closed transition usually uses the words "consisting of". Use of this phrase limits the preamble to exactly what follows and nothing more. An example would be a patent claim for a pencil, which might say in the preamble "a writing device", followed by the closed transition "consisting of", and concluding with a description such as "a cylindrical piece of lead, graphite, or another material similarly capable of leaving a mark when drawn against a surface, and a second surrounding material encasing the first". A third party who sold pencils including both a cylinder of writing material and a casing material, but added to his pencils an eraser fixed to one end, would therefore not be in violation of the patent. Use of such a transition makes it easy for a competitor to compete with the patented product without infringing it, because it allows the competitor to sell a similar device so long as the competitor makes an addition to what is claimed. However, it also may assist the patent owner in avoiding prior art, which might otherwise block the patent from issuing.
Read more about this topic: Transitional Phrase
Famous quotes containing the words closed and/or transition:
“Because you live, O Christ,
the spirit bird of hope is freed for flying,
our cages of despair no longer keep us closed and life-denying.
The stone has rolled away and death cannot imprison!
O sing this Easter Day, for Jesus Christ has risen!”
—Shirley Erena Murray (20th century)
“A transition from an author’s books to his conversation, is too often like an entrance into a large city, after a distant prospect. Remotely, we see nothing but spires of temples, and turrets of palaces, and imagine it the residence of splendor, grandeur, and magnificence; but, when we have passed the gates, we find it perplexed with narrow passages, disgraced with despicable cottages, embarrassed with obstructions, and clouded with smoke.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)