# Markman hearing

A pretrial hearing where the judge decides what the disputed terms of a patent claim mean, as a matter of law. Named after Markman v. Westview Instruments, this claim-construction step often decides the whole case because it sets the yardstick for infringement and validity.

**Full entry:** https://patentbrief.org/glossary/markman-hearing

**All patent terms:** https://patentbrief.org/glossary

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_Source: PatentBrief — https://patentbrief.org. A plain-English glossary of US patent terms._