Representative Patent Claims: Their Use in Appeals to the Board and in Infringement Litigation

In general every patent claim is considered a separate invention. However, in certain instances, multiple claims are grouped together and the patentee’s rights are determined with respect to these “representative claims.” This article examines the representative claims procedure utilized in patent prosecution and litigation. The recent changes in the rules governing the appeals of a rejected patent claim before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences are highlighted first, followed by an examination of the use of representative claims in patent litigation and proposals for some guidelines for the selection of representative claims.