Brandon A. Chan

1 week ago | mondaq.com | Ryan Smith |Brandon A. Chan

Patentees and practitioners, if relying on lexicography anddeviation from the ordinary meaning of a term, should remain awarethat any new definition of a term ultimately controls. One of the many tenets of United States patent law is that apatentee may choose to be his or her own lexicographer and defineterms that deviate from their ordinary meaning. This gives thepatent practitioner a "poetic license" to use and defineterms and the flexibility to craft the underlying patent as theysee fit.