Patent Claims Must Be "Clear" At The PTAB: The Nautilus “Reasonable Certainty” Standard For Claim Definiteness Not Applied In AIA Post Grant Proceedings, PTAB Litigation Blog
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The definiteness requirement for patent claims is set forth in Section 112(b), mandating that a patent specification conclude with one or more claims “particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.” 35 U.S.C. §112(b). In PGRs and CBMs, a patent claim can be challenged at the PTAB as being indefinite under § 112(b). IPR petitions are limited to prior art challenges and cannot be based on § 112 grounds, although indefiniteness issues do occasionally arise in IPRs; for example, the PTAB has refused to institute or has terminated some IPRs upon finding the claims indefinite, preventing a comparison of the claims to the prior art.
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