专利授权程序中的权利要求解释

Claim Construction in Patent Prosecution Procedure

说明书是发明人定义其发明的技术词典,是权利要求之母。基于二者之间的关系,在专利授权程序中,应当采用"语境论"的权利要求解释规则,即结合权利要求书的上下文和说明书、附图等内部证据确定权利要求的含义;当内部证据不足以确定权利要求的含义时,还应当结合所属技术领域的教科书、技术词典等外部证据进行解释。当基于内部证据的解释与基于外部证据的解释发生冲突时,应当坚持内部证据优先于外部证据的规则。

The specification is the technical dictionary for the inventor to define its invention, and thus is the mother of the claims. As to the relationship between the specification and the claims, claim construction should be conducted in the patent prosecution procedure using the context theory. That is, interpretation should be made in view of intrinsic evidence such as the claim context, the specification and the drawings. When intrinsic evidence is not sufficient to determine the meaning of a claim, interpretation may be employed using extrinsic evidence, such as textbooks and technical dictionaries in the relevant technical field. When the interpretation based on intrinsic evidence conflicts with that based on extrinsic evidence, priority should be given to the intrinsic evidence over the extrinsic evidence.