Comparison With Prosecution History Estoppel
Unlike prosecution history estoppel, where claim amendments limit a patentee's ability to apply the doctrine of equivalents, prosecution disclaimer limits the literal scope of the claims and results from applicant argument, rather than amendments. In Loctite Corp. v. Ultraseal Ltd, the judge said that "interpreting claims in view of the prosecution history applies as a preliminary step in determining literal infringement. Prosecution history estoppel applies as a limitation to the doctrine of equivalents after the claims have been properly interpreted and no literal infringement is found".
Even if the literal scope of a claim is narrowed by prosecution disclaimer, the doctrine of equivalents may still be available for the claim terms at issue.
Read more about this topic: Prosecution Disclaimer
Famous quotes containing the words comparison, prosecution and/or history:
“Certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment’s comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The prosecution of [Warren] Hastings, though he should escape at last, must have good effect. It will alarm the servants of the Company in India, that they may not always plunder with impunity, but that there may be a retrospect; and it will show them that even bribes of diamonds to the Crown may not secure them from prosecution.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
“History does nothing; it does not possess immense riches, it does not fight battles. It is men, real, living, who do all this.... It is not “history” which uses men as a means of achieving—as if it were an individual person—its own ends. History is nothing but the activity of men in pursuit of their ends.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)