Historical Basis and Case Law
Prosecution disclaimer is a common law doctrine that originates in federal court precedent. One discussion and example of prosecution disclaimer is made in the Federal Circuit case Southwall Techs. Inc. v. Cardinal IG Co. This case also cites several other Federal Circuit cases dealing with prosecution disclaimer.
In Southwall, the Court was explicit in defining the principle: "The prosecution history limits the interpretation of claim terms so as to exclude any interpretation that was disclaimed during prosecution". The Court used the principal to prevent the patentee from arguing an interpretation of "sputter deposited dielectric" that would allow it to continue with a patent infringement suit, because the argument was inconsistent with its position during prosecution.
The Court also noted that a given claim term must be interpreted consistently across all claims. Once a term has been given a specific meaning with regard to one claim, the same meaning applies to all claims that include that term.
Another Federal Circuit case using the term "disclaimer" is Standard Oil Co. v. American Cyanamid Co. In Standard Oil, the Court stated that "the prosecution history (or file wrapper) limits the interpretation of claims so as to exclude any interpretation that may have been disclaimed or disavowed during prosecution in order to obtain claim allowance."
Read more about this topic: Prosecution Disclaimer
Famous quotes containing the words historical, basis, case and/or law:
“We can imagine a society in which no one could survive as a social being because it does not correspond to biologically determined perceptions and human social needs. For historical reasons, existing societies might have such properties, leading to various forms of pathology.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“The basis of optimism is sheer terror.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Sculpture and painting are very justly called liberal arts; a lively and strong imagination, together with a just observation, being absolutely necessary to excel in either; which, in my opinion, is by no means the case of music, though called a liberal art, and now in Italy placed even above the other two—a proof of the decline of that country.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Actual aristocracy cannot be abolished by any law: all the law can do is decree how it is to be imparted and who is to acquire it.”
—G.C. (Georg Christoph)