functional claiming
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 317 U.S. 228 - United Carbon Co. v. Binney & Smith Co. · 1942Most cited · 643 citing opinions
a patentee may not broaden his claims by describing the product in terms of function
How often courts cite the cases defining “functional claiming”
Court decisions citing the 2 opinions that defined “functional claiming” — 977 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 2 definitions, chronological · 1928–1942
- ORIGINAL
The patentee may not by claiming a patent on the result or function of a machine extend his patent to devices or mechanisms not described in the patent. An attempt to broaden product claims by describing the product exclusively in terms of its use or function is subject to the same vice as is the attempt to describe a patentable device or machine in terms of its function. As a description of the invention, it is insufficient, and, if allowed, would extend the monopoly beyond the invention.