How to render corrective interpretations of claims

Patent claims are written expressions of solutions for which protection is requested. Due to the nature of the written language, it is impossible to avoid the occasional human error. When an international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) enters the national stage in China, translation errors are even more difficult to avoid. There are numerous reasons that can result in errors in claims for which rights are ultimately granted. In judicial practice, Courts have consistently faced the issue of how to deal with obvious errors in the expression of technical features in patent claims. As documents for a granted patent are subject to public disclosure, the court cannot permit the holder of the same to make any further alterations to claims.

So, the key to winning in a patent infringement suit is ensuring that the judges correctly understand claims containing errors. After an actual case in which they were involved, the authors of this article propose to address the issue of applicable standards involved in the correct understanding of claims with errors in the hope that readers can conduct a broader and more extensive discussion of this issue.

Company A, headquartered in Spain, is an innovative international enterprise with a history of more than 50 years. It is active in the research and development of dipper teeth, connectors, protective covers and locking devices used in the earth-moving machinery sector. Company A discovered that Company B was suspected of producing and selling excavator accessories infringing the former’s invention patents. The appointed agent of Company A effected notarized purchases of the said products and secured the relevant evidence. After being engaged by Company A, the authors officially instituted a civil patent infringement suit with the court in May 2016, demanding that Company B immediately cease the infringement and pay the related compensation.

Chen Jian is a patent attorney at Sanyou Intellectual Property Agency and is the director at Wan Rui Law Firm. Geng Yunfeng is a patent attorney at Sanyou and is an associate at Wan Rui