Southfield, MI (August 30, 2018) – Christopher Francis and Daniel Hegner, both members of Bejin Bieneman, are the featured panelists on a CLE Strafford webinar on September 27 at 1:00pm EDT titled, Using Broadest Reasonable Interpretation to Your Advantage in Patent Prosecution.
Patent examiners often interpret claims more broadly than is reasonable to practitioners, but they lack tools to fight the interpretation. However, PTAB and Federal Circuit cases show limits to examiners’ use of BRI in patent prosecution. The rulings underscore the importance of making focused arguments highlighting the ordinary and customary meaning of claim terms consistent with the specification and drawings.
Patentees and their counsel should focus on the plain and ordinary meaning of claim terms against the patent specification. During the webinar, Mr. Francis and Mr. Hegner will examine the BRI standard and how it is being applied. They will provide practical lessons for using BRI to your advantage in prosecution by examining recent Federal Circuit and USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions.
The following high priority issues will be addressed:
- What guidance do Federal Circuit and PTAB decisions give patent counsel on the application of BRI?
- What arguments are useful in overcoming patent examiners’ unreasonable claim interpretations?
- Why is defining claim terms in the specification and using the definitions critical?
- How can patent counsel distinguish cases where extrinsic evidence has been used to supplement the specification? If and when should extrinsic evidence be used?
The webinar is a live 90-minute CLE with an interactive Q&A at the end. For more information and to register, visit the Strafford website.
About Bejin Bieneman, PLC
Bejin Bieneman PLC is a full-service intellectual property law firm, serving clients nationally and internationally. The firm maximizes returns on client’s long-term investments by understanding client business objectives. Bejin Bieneman’s attorneys counsel clients on complex patent and trademark prosecution and litigation issues and provide intellectual property services in a timely and well-executed manner.