The claims of an issued patent describe the metes-and-bounds of the invention being claimed. Quite often, scientific information is the basis for these claims. However, scientific information, in all its forms, does not always meet the definiteness requirement for obtaining a patent. In the US, the claims must be definitely described so the public knows what activities do or do not constitute patent infringement. In 2015, the Supreme Court and Federal Circuit bolstered the ability of patent challengers to invalidate issued US patents for failure to meet the definiteness requirement for claim terms such as “molecular weight.” This talk will discuss the now heightened definiteness requirement, as a consequence of these cases, as it relates to claims reciting scientific information and the validity of the patents which include these claims.

Patent claims reciting scientific information: The now heightened definiteness requirement

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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