Red-Lining Revelations: Edits between Patent Families Continue to be Highly Relevant to Claim Construction

by Dennis Crouch

The Federal Circuit recently expanded its doctrine associated with specification changes in family member patent applications -- using minor changes in the specification justify differing claim construction across a patent family.  FMC Corporation v. Sharda USA, LLC, No. 24-2335 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 1, 2025).  This is helpful for careful patent attorneys, but also requires care when drafting non-provisional applications claiming priority back to a provisional.  Notably, in both FMC and the 2024 DDR case, the construction hurt the patentee.


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