August 2003
Vague Claim Construction Rules Lead to ReversalsWhy can't federal trial judges figure out what patents mean? As it held en banc in Cybor Corp. v. FAS Technologies, Inc., 138 F3d 1448 (Fed. Cir. 1998), district court rulings on claim construction —interpretations of the meaning of patent claims — are reviewed de novo as questions of law by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A recent study concluded that more than 40% of all claim construction rulings reviewed by the Federal Circuit in 2001 were reversed in whole or part. Andrew T. Zidel, "Patent Claim Construction in the Trial Courts: A Study Showing the Need for Clear Guidance from the Federal Circuit," 33 Seton Hall L. Rev. 711 (2003).
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