06-P6 book-pp71-78_8_Layout 1 22/05/2018 09:43 Page 77
6. How do I deal with novelty? But then again, the object of the invention, in the third paragraph of the patent, says that the invention seeks to provide a blade in which the teeth are in separate groups….and surely that must mean there is a space? Or could it mean something else? What a nightmare! But if you find a nightmare situation like this in a FD4 examination, you know you have found a pot of marks. You have to walk round the possibilities, explaining why some seem more attractive than others, and as you will appreciate, once you have given a definite meaning or construction to the words of the claim, the question of whether an infringement or an item of prior art is inside or outside the claim is much easier to decide. So a decision must be made as to whether a gap or space between the groups of teeth is, or is not, essential. Looking at claim 2 whether the teeth of the bandsaw are, or are not, offset in the manner claimed depends on the meaning that has been placed on those words as discussed above. Claim 3 does not seem to be anticipated in any way, and the same comment applies to claim 4.
Infringement and Validity • 2018
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