Patent claim construction is one of the most important determinations in any challenge to a patent claim’s validity. Claim construction determines the boundary of the property right of the patent owner.

Once that boundary is determined, the fact finder determines what prior art is relevant to the validity challenge — which is inside the claim’s boundary and which is not.

The Patent and Trademark Office recently changed its rules so that the claim construction standard used in assessing the validity of issued patent claims in inter parties review proceedings at the PTO is the same one that would be used in a court proceeding.

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