GL F IV 4.13.1 Interpretation of expressions such as "Apparatus for ...", "Product for ... "

If a claim commences with such words as "Apparatus for carrying out the process ...", this must be construed as meaning merely apparatus suitable for carrying out the process. An apparatus which otherwise possesses all of the features specified in the claims but which is unsuitable for the stated purpose or requires modifications to enable it to be so used for said purpose, is normally not considered as anticipating the claim.

Similar considerations apply to a claim for a product for a particular use.

GL F IV 4.13 Interpretation of expressions stating a purpose

4.13.1 Interpretation of expressions such as "Apparatus for ...", "Product for ... "

4.13.2 Interpretation of means-plus-function features ("means for ... ")

4.13.3 Interpretation of expressions such as "Method for ..."

GL F IV 4.12.1 Product claim with process features

Provided that they are allowable, the process features in a product claim comprising both product features and process features can establish the novelty of the claimed product only if they cause the claimed product to have different properties from the products known from the prior art.

GL F IV 4.12 Product-by-process claim

A claim defining a product in terms of a process is to be construed as a claim to the product as such. The technical content of the invention lies not in the process per se, but rather in the technical properties imparted to the product by the process.

GL F IV 4.11.1 Unusual parameters

Unusual parameters are parameters not commonly used in the field of the invention.

GL F IV 4.11 Parameters

Parameters are characteristic values, which may be values of directly measurable properties (e.g. the melting point of a substance, the flexural strength of a steel, the resistance of an electrical conductor) or may be defined as more or less complicated mathematical combinations of several variables in the form of formulae.

The characteristics of a product may be specified by parameters related to the physical structure of the product, provided that those parameters can be clearly and reliably determined by objective procedures which are usual in t

GL F IV 4.10 Result to be achieved

The area defined by the claims must be as precise as the invention allows. As a general rule, claims which attempt to define the invention by a result to be achieved are not allowed, in particular if they only amount to claiming the underlying technical problem.

GL F IV 4.9 Optional features

Optional features, i.e. features preceded by expressions such as "preferably", "for example", "such as" or "more particularly" are allowed if they do not introduce ambiguity.

GL F IV 4.8 Trade marks

The use of trade marks and similar expressions in claims is not allowed as it does not guarantee that the product or feature referred to is not modified while maintaining its name during the term of the patent. They may be allowed exceptionally if their use is unavoidable and they are generally recognised as having a precise meaning.

With regard to the need to acknowledge trade marks as such in the description, see F‑II, 4.14.

GL F IV 4.7.2 Clarity objections

If the application suggests that the use of terms such as "about", "approximately" or "substantially" extends either the interval claimed by a value and/or range outside the error margins of the measurement system or the structural unit beyond the manufacturing tolerances, then the wording becomes vague and undefined, i.e. the application does not fulfil the requirements of Art.