On January 15, 2013, the USPTO released a notice – see link below – requesting comments on its suggestions of ways to “improve the quality of issued patents” by improving the quality of application drafting. There are two brief sections in the Notice: “Clarifying the Scope of Claims” and “Clarifying the Meaning of Claim Terms in the Specification.” Since this is a biotech blawg, I will skip the sections relating to software and means-plus-function clauses.

The suggestions in Part A boil down to: (1) Write claims in outline form with elements in lettered or Roman numeral-designated subsections, (2) Minimize or eliminate preambles (the Office wants us to indicate if we think they are limiting, so let’s stop using them), (3) Specifically identify support for claim elements in the specification (No – should only be “necessary”– if at all — when claims are amended – original claims are part of the specification), (4) Indicate whether or not examples are intended to be limiting or “merely illustrative” (Easy one - they are always illustrative).

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