Edward H. Phillips v. AWH Corp. et al.: Did the Federal Circuit Change Anything?

The Federal Circuit piqued the interest of the patent bar when it issued its decision granting Edward H. Phillips' petition for rehearing <i>en banc</i>. <i>Edward H. Phillips v. AWH Corp. et al.</i>, 376 F.3d 1382 (Fed. Cir. 2004) ("<i>Phillips I</i>"). Patent practitioners expected that the court would finally provide the bar with a clear understanding of how claims should be interpreted and construed. The court's guidance would help not only patent prosecutors so that claims could be crafted with appropriate scope to provide maximum coverage for a client's invention, but also aid patent litigators so that efforts could be focused on specific disputed claim terms and their construction rather than scatter shot attacks on every possible claim term in the hope that one of the shots would hit home. Whether the Federal Circuit provided any guidance to the bar has yet to be determined. However, it is clear that despite the fervent hope of the patent bar, no new law was made with the <i>Phillips en banc</i> decision.

30 minute read September 01, 2005 at 11:53 AM

By

Kristin L. Yohannan