CPC classification

Cross-referenced

Patent

A government-granted right that gives an inventor the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention within the country that granted the patent, for a limited time. A patent does not give the owner the right to practice the invention — only the right to exclude others. The US issues three types: utility, design, and plant patents.

Claim differentiation

A canon of claim construction: different claims are presumed to have different scope, so a limitation spelled out in a dependent claim is presumed to be absent from the broader independent claim it depends on. It is used to argue an independent claim should be read broadly.

Conception

The mental part of invention: forming a definite and permanent idea of the complete invention in enough detail that a skilled person could build it. Conception, paired with reduction to practice, determines who legally counts as an inventor.

Claim

The numbered sentences at the end of a patent that define exactly what is legally protected. Claims are the only part of a patent that determine infringement — if a product or process doesn't fall within the scope of at least one claim, there is no infringement. Every other part of a patent (abstract, drawings, specification) exists to support and illuminate the claims.

Claim chart

A side-by-side comparison table mapping each element of a patent claim to a specific feature in an accused product or prior art reference. Claim charts are used in infringement analysis, licensing negotiations, and patent litigation. They make it visually clear which claim elements are met (or not met) by the thing being compared.

Claim construction

The legal process of interpreting what a patent claim means — specifically, the scope of each term in the claim. In litigation, judges perform claim construction in a "Markman hearing" before deciding infringement. Claim construction is often the most consequential step in patent litigation: a narrow construction can defeat infringement, while a broad one can invalidate the claim.