In a recent Bloomberg Law article, Haynes Boone Partner Debbie McComas discussed a Federal Circuit decision highlighting the importance of precision in patent drafting and the challenges posed by flexible claim language such as “about.”
Read an excerpt below:
Debbie McComas, who argued for Safe Foods Corp. in its Federal Circuit win against Enviro Tech, said she recognizes “the tension that patent prosecutors face in drafting a specification that captures the broadest invention possible while acknowledging the scope of what came before.”
But flexible terms like “about” need clearer limits when claims approach existing technology, she said.
“The prior art was helpful in reinforcing the need for such clarity because it left little to no room to distinguish the claimed invention from what already existed,” McComas said.
Read the full Bloomberg Law article here.
